MERCK AG INTERESTED IN LIPHA
German pharmaceutical company Merck AG has said that it is interested in the 43% stake that Cooper holds in the Lyon, France-based drug company Lipha. Cooper was recen-tly acquired by French chemical company Rhone-Poulenc (Marketletters passim). Merck AG already holds a 52% stake in Lipha.
Rhone-Poulenc remained silent on the subject during the negotiations to acquire Cooper but now says that it would be logical to sell off the 43% interest as it has no wish to keep minority shares in competing companies. Merck AG has added that it has been in contact with R-P over the issue and all now depends on the price R-P is asking.
In 1991, Merck AG paid 2.5 billion French francs ($426.1 million) to the industrial group Air Liquide for its 52% stake in Lipha. The Paris broker Schelcher-Prince estimates the 43% stake is worth around 1.3 billion francs, while the bank advising Cooper, BUE, sets the figure at between 1.4 million and 1.5 million francs.
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