Prague - Czech generics maker Zentiva said Monday it has
agreed to a nearly 2-billion-dollar buyout bid by Sanofi-Aventis
after the French pharmaceutical group raised its offer by 9.5 per
cent.
Sanofi-Aventis, Zentiva's largest shareholder with a 24.9-per-cent
stake, sweetened its initial bid by 100 koruny to 1,150 koruny per
share (70 dollars), Zentiva said.
Zentiva said the offer represents a 26-per-cent premium over its
share price on April 30, before the original bid, and recommended the
buyout to other shareholders.
'We believe that the raised offer represents attractive value for
Zentiva shareholders, especially in the light of the current market
turbulence,' board chairman and executive manager Jiri Michal said in
a statement.
Michal and other Zentiva managers have agreed to sell
Sanofi-Aventis their shares amounting to about 5.7 per cent in the
company.
Zentiva's stock rose more than 5 per cent Monday, trading on the
Prague Stock Exchange for 1,144 koruny per share, slightly below the
offered price.
Monday announcement followed a bidding war between Sanofi-Aventis
and the second biggest shareholder, Czech financial group PPF.
PPF, which holds 19.2 per cent in the drug maker, offered 950
koruny per share but was trumped by Sanofi-Aventis' first bid.
Zentiva management then held out for more.
The raised offer, under which the French pharmaceutical group is
seeking to buy at least 50 per cent in Zentiva, is valid through
November 28.
Outside the Czech Republic, the generics maker is active in
Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Russia and Turkey.
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