Sanofi's European revamp may kill 700 jobs

In the wake of Sanofi-Aventis' ($SNY) agreement to buy Genzyme ($GENZ), all of the job-cut worries have been centered on the U.S. company. Where might Sanofi find cost-savings at Genzyme, and how many jobs might go as a result?

Well, while we were looking toward Cambridge, MA, the French drugmaker was cooking up plans to shrink operations in Europe. La Tribune reports Sanofi will reorganize in the region in a move that could lead to 700 lost jobs. The reshuffling is part of a strategy called Transforming, which was launched by the French drugmaker in 2009. And the restructuring could kill off more than a score of business units.

"In total the French company will only hold 10 European subsidiaries, compared with more than 30 at present," the newspaper said (as quoted by Reuters). Operations in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg would be merged into one, for instance, while units in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and others may be reorganized as well.

A Sanofi spokesman wouldn't confirm the number of job cuts, Reuters reports, but did say the company was reorganizing its European units. No doubt more details will be forthcoming as the axe begins to fall.

- read the Reuters news