Synthelabo Denies French Targets For Acquisition

French pharmaceutical company Synthelabo has issued a denial followingthe publication of an article in the French newspaper Les Echos. The article claimed that Herve Guerin, Synthelabo's chairman, said that it was targeting a shortlist of five to six companies, and that two of these are the French firms Pierre Fabre and Beaufour Ipsen.

The newspaper reported Mr Guerin as saying that one or other of these companies would be taken over between now and the end of the century, and that talks have already started with Pierre Fabre.

These two companies have also denied that they are to be acquired by Synthelabo, and the latter has since issued a statement denying that Mr Guerin had made the comments attributed to him in Les Echos implicating Pierre Fabre and Beaufour Ipsen. Les Echos has published a disclaimer from Synthelabo regarding the interview.