"You should never fall in love with an asset." Those are the words of Bristol-Myers Squibb's CFO, who assured investors today that his company won't be despondent if ImClone Systems ultimately rejects its buyout offer.
Part of the high-stakes bluffing game--part poker, part chicken--that these takeover bids often become? Maybe. Or maybe Jean-Marc Huet does, as he said, "understand the business very well." Maybe he knows enough about ImClone to see that a deal wouldn't be a good deal under all circumstances. "[T]here are situations in which we are willing to walk away," he said.
You'll recall that Bristol offered [1] $60 a share for its partner-in-Erbitux, and ImClone promptly called that price inadequate. Just last week, Chairman Carl Icahn announced that he had a major pharma company just offstage, $70-per-share offer in hand [2]. Since then, Icahn and Bristol CEO Jim Cornelius have been sparring [3] over buyout protocol and, more importantly, Bristol's rights to an ImClone follow-up to Erbitux.
This take-it-or-leave-it tale is the latest salvo--but certainly not the last. Stay tuned.
- see the Star-Ledger story [4]
- check out the item [5] at the WSJ Health Blog
Related Articles:
Icahn and Cornelius trade notes, barbs [3]
Icahn's mystery buyer could spark bidding war [6]
ImClone rejects BMS, gets higher bid [2]
ImClone builds case for higher takeover bid [7]
ImClone buyout could founder over drug dispute [8]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/bms-bids-4-5b-imclone/2008-07-31
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/imclone-rejects-bms-gets-higher-bid/2008-09-10
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/ican-and-cornelius-pass-notes-barbs/2008-09-12
[4] http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2008/09/bristol_cfo_we_could_walk_away.html
[5] http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/09/16/bristol-myerss-love-for-imclone-only-goes-so-far/
[6] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/icahns-mystery-buyer-could-spark-bidding-war/2008-09-11
[7] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/imclone-builds-case-higher-takeover-bid/2008-08-28
[8] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/imclone-buyout-could-founder-over-next-gen-drug-dispute/2008-08-11