Two interesting bids on the billboard Genzyme and Ascendis Pharma

Courtesy Bloomberg

Sanofi-Aventis may begin a hostile bid for Genzyme Corp. should the U.S. biotechnology company resist a takeover approach, analysts at Citigroup Inc. said.

No other bidder is likely to emerge for Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Genzyme, and Sanofi will probably succeed in acquiring the company for $74 to $77 a share, Citigroup analysts Mark Dainty and Yaron Werber wrote in a report to clients today. Genzyme is worth $70 a share based on estimated cash flow, and Sanofi would benefit from as much as $5.50 a share of synergies in an acquisition, they said.

Investors in Genzyme say Paris-based Sanofi may have to pay at least $80 a share, or $21.3 billion, to acquire the maker of drugs that fight genetic diseases. Sanofi Chief Executive Officer Chris Viehbacher has support from his board to offer as much as $70 a share, or about $18.7 billion, and is preparing a formal offer letter, three people familiar with the situation said last week.

Novo Nordisk A/S, Novartis AG’S Sandoz and Eli Lilly & Co. are among bidders for Ascendis Pharma A/S of Denmark,  

The Copenhagen-based health-care company received offers of about $400 million, said the person, who declined to be identified because the process isn’t public. Ascendis may choose a final bidder by early September.

Ascendis has a technology that allows drugs to be released into the body in a controlled way over time, according to its website. The company focuses on hormone-related disorders and is developing a human growth hormone that can be taken once a week. It’s also developing new formulations of approved medicines and products for central nervous system and infectious diseases, according to the website.

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