EUROPEAN: bourses closed mixed, with a narrow range of ups and downs for the reporting period to September 25. Most put in a stellar performance on September 20, stirred by takeover expectations and weakening oil prices. The acquisition speculation in the pharmaceutical sector turned to reality and came in spades. The first was the $13.5 billion offer for the Bertarelli family's 64.5% stake in Swiss biotechnology major Serono (Marketletter September 25), causing that firm's stock to leap 18% on the ZURICH exchange. However, the bidder, Merck KGaA moved just 1.7% higher in FRANKFURT, which was to be the scene of further M&A activity. Altana finally revealed an expected offer, from Denmark's Nycomed, for its pharmaceutical business which, at just $5.7 billion, was lower than had been hoped for (see page 3). And as if that was not enough, Belgium's UCB swept in with a takeover bid for Schwarz Pharma, valuing the firm at some $5.6 billion (see page 2) and causing the German group's shares to leap 23.2%. UCB's shares dipped 0.1% on the announcement and closed the reporting week down 0.7% on the BRUSSELS bourse. UCB's R&D day (see page 19) came after this reporting week and market reaction is not reflected. Given this spate of M&A activity, investors are now looking for more and, while the previously mentioned deals have all been friendly and agreed, it does not mean that counter offers might not also appear in this round of consolidation of the mid-sized European pharmaceutical industry.
LONDON: share prices moved up and down, with the FTSE 100 falling 1.3% on September 22, for a week-on-week decline of 1.6%, on concerns about the US economy. The flurry of European M&A news did not spill over to London, but Shire Pharma rose 1.7% on the last reporting day, although down 0.9% on the week, on hopes that it might be a target for the USA's MedImmune or Forest Labs. Of the drug majors, GlaxoSmithKline fell 3.2% after analysts at USA-based broker Bear Stearns cut their rating on the stock to underperform from peer perform, citing potential competition for the firm's diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone).
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Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Sept 25, 2006
EUROPEAN: bourses closed mixed, with a narrow range of ups and downs for the reporting period to September 25. Most put in a stellar performance on September 20, stirred by takeover expectations and weakening oil prices. The acquisition speculation in the pharmaceutical sector turned to reality and came in spades. The first was the $13.5 billion offer for the Bertarelli family's 64.5% stake in Swiss biotechnology major Serono (Marketletter September 25), causing that firm's stock to leap 18% on the ZURICH exchange. However, the bidder, Merck KGaA moved just 1.7% higher in FRANKFURT, which was to be the scene of further M&A activity. Altana finally revealed an expected offer, from Denmark's Nycomed, for its pharmaceutical business which, at just $5.7 billion, was lower than had been hoped for (see page 3). And as if that was not enough, Belgium's UCB swept in with a takeover bid for Schwarz Pharma, valuing the firm at some $5.6 billion (see page 2) and causing the German group's shares to leap 23.2%. UCB's shares dipped 0.1% on the announcement and closed the reporting week down 0.7% on the BRUSSELS bourse. UCB's R&D day (see page 19) came after this reporting week and market reaction is not reflected. Given this spate of M&A activity, investors are now looking for more and, while the previously mentioned deals have all been friendly and agreed, it does not mean that counter offers might not also appear in this round of consolidation of the mid-sized European pharmaceutical industry.
LONDON: share prices moved up and down, with the FTSE 100 falling 1.3% on September 22, for a week-on-week decline of 1.6%, on concerns about the US economy. The flurry of European M&A news did not spill over to London, but Shire Pharma rose 1.7% on the last reporting day, although down 0.9% on the week, on hopes that it might be a target for the USA's MedImmune or Forest Labs. Of the drug majors, GlaxoSmithKline fell 3.2% after analysts at USA-based broker Bear Stearns cut their rating on the stock to underperform from peer perform, citing potential competition for the firm's diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone).
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