ImClone in talks with secret suitor

Carl Icahn, CEO at ImClone, is turning his nose up at its recent offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb and the company now officially is saying the $60 bucks a share that the huge pharma company offered for ImClone was "inadequate."

Icahn apparently has been having tête-à-tête talks with a secret pharma mistress.

The company today released a statement saying that the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company has been wooing the company and that Icahn has had several discussions with said (well, unsaid) CEO of said (unsaid) company, which is making a cash offer of $70 per share. This brings the offer price to about $6.1 billion...a nice increase over the Bristol-Myers offer of about a billion dollars less.

ImClone will give its hush-hush friend two weeks for due diligence, but not for financing. In the meantime, have fun betting on who the interested party might be. Merck? GlaxoSmithKline? Eli Lilly? Novartis? Pfizer? Stay tuned.

- here's the press release
- read more at the Street Insider

Related Articles:
ImClone builds case for higher takeover bid
ImClone buyout could founder over drug dispute
Analysts: BMS lowballing ImClone
ImClone plays hard to get, considers spin-off
BMS bids $4.5B for ImClone