Roche: No worries about deal financing

Roche says the strangled credit markets won't hamper its financing for a $43.7 billion takeover of Genentech. Other companies haven't been so lucky; mining firm Xstrata bailed out of a deal with Lonmin yesterday, for instance. So bankers are watching the Roche-Genentech deal as a sort of barometer for the M&A market, the Wall Street Journal reports.

A Roche spokesman maintains the company's confidence in its ability "to raise the required financing," echoing assurances Roche CEO Severin Schwan gave the markets a couple of weeks ago. The spokesman wouldn't say whether Roche plans to hike its $89-a-share bid; Genentech, as you know, has said the offer "undervalues" the company [1]. Meanwhile, as Reuters notes, the strengthening dollar has made Roche's current bid more expensive in Swiss franc terms.

Sources tell the WSJ that Roche has contacted a number of banks about financing the deal. No word yet on their responses. Stay tuned.

- read the article [2] in the WSJ

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