Could Sanofi-Aventis get Genzyme for $76 per share? That's apparently what the French drugmaker's trying to do, at least according to a story from Le Figaro. As Reuters reports, sources on the Sanofi side of the deal identified $76 per share as the target price, or about $20 billion. That $76 would include a $70 to $71 cash payment, plus a contingent value right to make up the difference.
How Genzyme feels about that idea isn't yet clear. What we do know is that after months upon months of cold war over the potential deal, the two companies are actually negotiating. The CVR proposal helped make the difference. The two sides have published very different predictions for eventual sales of Genzyme's proposed multiple sclerosis treatment, a version of the leukemia drug Campath, and a CVR could help resolve that difference, allowing Sanofi to pay up only if targets are reached.
But the CVR proposal is also a stumbling block; its value remains a key point of contention in negotiations. The total price obviously matters, too, and $76 is several dollars lower than the numbers batted around earlier this week. Some Genzyme investors remain wedded to an $80 total price. Still, $76 is a big improvement on Sanofi's initial $69 bid. We'll surely get a hint of Genzyme's reaction soon.
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