Numico a target for pharma companies?

Numico, the Dutch food group, has dropped a broad hint that it iswilling to listen to merger plans, especially from pharmaceutical firms. The group's chief executive, Hans van der Wielen, named Novartis, American Home Products and Bristol-Myers Squibb in an interview with the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad as potential partners.

No merger talks have been held as yet, but numerous investment bankers have paid Numico a visit to discuss possible link-ups. Mr van der Wielen told the newspaper that if the firm "could form a combination with one of the three.....we would get a world organization."

Numico says it is undervalued