Market-watchers love to speculate. Their latest topic? Bristol-Myers Squibb, which has been paring away its "non-core" businesses over the last few months. Most recently, Bristol agreed to sell off its ConvaTec wound-care unit for $4.1 billion [1]. Now, it's planning to spin off 10 percent to 20 percent of its Mead Johnson baby formula business in an IPO--a deal that could fetch up to $9.1 billion.
Why the sell-offs? One train of thought: BMS is primping for a suitor. By slenderizing, it's making itself more attractive to a bigger drugmaker--say Pfizer [2], AstraZeneca, Novartis, or Sanofi-Aventis [3].
Another train of thought: Bristol could be gathering up cash for a war chest of its own. That would allow BMS to snap up smaller drug companies to shore up its product portfolio [4].
- check out the item [5] at Seeking Alpha
- see the skinny [6] at Blogging Stocks
- read Jim Cramer's prognostications [7] at The Street
Related Articles:
BMS sources discount chance of Sanofi buyout [3]
Report: Sanofi-Aventis inks preliminary deal for BMS [8]
Patent victory reignites rumors of BMS takeover [9]
Rumor Mill: Is BMS going on the sales block? [10]
Analysts buzzing about possible Bristol-Myers sale [11]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/spotlight-bms-selling-off-convatec-unit-for-4.1b/2008-05-05
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/pfizer-partners-with-bms-in-1b-deal/2007-04-26
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/bms-sources-discount-chance-sanofi-buyout/2007-11-28
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/13-bristol-myers-squibb-top-15-r-d-budgets
[5] http://seekingalpha.com/article/75873-bristol-myers-squibb-to-be-acquired-by
[6] http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/05/05/bristol-myers-squibbs-recent-deals-prelude-to-a-much-bigger/
[7] http://www.thestreet.com/s/cramers-mad-money-recap-bristol-myers-new-look/funds/madmoneywrap/10415187.html?puc=googlen&cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
[8] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/report-sanofi-aventis-inks-preliminary-deal-for-bms/2007-01-29
[9] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/patent-victory-reignites-rumors-of-bms-takeover/2007-06-20
[10] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/rumor-mill-is-bms-going-on-the-sales-block/2006-09-13
[11] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/analysts-buzzing-about-possible-bristol-myers-sale/2006-08-21