RHONE-POULENC BID FOR FRENCH DISTRIBUTOR

French chemical and pharmaceutical company Rhone-Poulenc has made a bid for the "friendly acquisition of Cooperation Pharmaceutique Francaise," a French cooperative wholesaler that handles the distribution of R-P's paracetamol product Doliprane, and the Pasteur Merieux flu vaccine Vaxigrip.

R-P's pharmaceutical concern Rhone-Poulenc Rorer wants to distribute the product itself, and indicated last week that if an agreement could not be reached with Cooper (R-P's chosen abbreviation for the firm) a takeover bid for the wholesaler was a possibility (Marketletter February 21).

The bid is valued at around 3 billion French francs ($511.3 million) and consists of an offer to Cooper shareholders to sell their shares for 2,400 francs per share or exchange them for new R-P shares at a rate of 18 R-P shares for one Cooper share.