Novartis Considers Joining Swiss Vaccines Firm Berna With Chiron
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
The firm would have to outbid a roughly $450 mil. bid from Dutch biotech company Crucell.
|
Novartis has received permission to conduct due diligence on Swiss vaccines company Berna Biotech. Novartis "has decided to explore the benefits of acquiring" Berna and "combining its operations with those of Chiron," the company said Dec. 18. The firm said in October that it would create a separate vaccines division based on Chiron's offerings (1 (Also see "Second Time's The Charm: Novartis' New Bid Lures Chiron" - Pink Sheet, 31 Oct, 2005.)). Novartis asserted that the "combination of Berna and Chiron would offer complementary geographic coverage and product ranges." Berna's portfolio includes flu vaccine Inflexal V , oral typhoid fever vaccine Vivotif , hepatitis A vaccine Epaxal and hepatitis B vaccine Hepavax-Gene . Dutch biotech company Crucell recently presented an all-share exchange offer for Berna worth 591 mil. Swiss francs ($451.5 mil.). Berna said that if it receives an offer from Novartis, "the Board will then have to judge if this new offer is a superior one" to the Crucell bid. Novartis said "key economic terms of a potential offer" for Berna have not been established and "no assurance can be given that Novartis will make an offer." The deal likely would in part hinge on Novartis' successful completion of the Chiron acquisition. A Chiron minority shareholder announced on Dec. 20 that it would vote to reject the Novartis offer (see 2 (Also see "Chiron Minority Shareholder Will Oppose Novartis Takeover" - Pink Sheet, 20 Dec, 2005.) ). -Kathleen Michael |