Nycomed Said to Tactic Bid For Solvay Drug Unit, Prepare For Ipo
Nycomed is considering a purchase as part of a revived plan to sell shares in an initial public offering at a later date as a larger, more diversified company, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information isnt public. Solvay, controlled by Belgiums Solvay family, sought offers of more than 5 billion euros ($7 billion), the people said.
A tie-up with Nycomed, based in Zurich, would create a company with about 6 billion euros in sales, drugs to treat heart, gastrointestinal and central nervous diseases, and operations in Europe and emerging markets. Brussels-based Solvay began a review of the unit in April and said it had held talks with third parties on options including a possible sale.
“There is a central nervous system and gastro overlap, so that could be interesting,” said Jan Van Den Bossche, a Brussels-based analyst at Petercam SA who recommends buying Solvay shares.
Nycomed spokeswoman Beatrix Benz declined to comment as did Katarina Vestlund, a spokeswoman for Nordic Capital, and a spokeswoman for Credit Suisse. Solvay officials didnt return calls seeking comment.
Abbott Not Interested
Abbott Laboratories, which sells Solvays TriCor cholesterol treatment in the U.S., has no interest in buying the drug, Abbott Chief Financial Officer Thomas Freyman said yesterday. The Financial Times reported that Abbott and Nycomed were the only bidders left for Solvay assets, while De Tijd of Belgium said today there are three candidates in the running.
“We have no interest in expanding our participation in the fenofibrate market,” Freyman said on a conference call. “We already have a presence there and an adequate investment.” Fenofibrates are the class of drugs that include TriCor.
The private-equity firms that control Nycomed previously considered an IPO as a way to exit their 4.5 billion-euro purchase in 2006 of Altana AGs pharmaceutical unit, the people said. The drop in stock prices and a dearth of investors for new offerings prompted them to hire Goldman Sachs Group Inc. this year to test takeover interest in the company, the people said.
In May, the company said it wasnt for sale, and planned an IPO at some point, depending on market conditions.
Nycomed is prepared to take on additional debt to acquire Solvay because it can recoup the funds by saving on costs and selling a bigger company when stock markets recover, the people said. Nycomed, which gained the experimental Daxas drug to treat smokers cough through the Altana acquisition, plans to seek U.S. regulatory approval for the medicine this year.
Heartburn Drug
Solvay, which introduced one of the first modern anti- depressants in 1983, got almost two-thirds of its sales last year from plastics and chemicals.
Nycomed was founded in Norway in 1874 by pharmacist Morten Nyegaard as an agent for imported pharmaceutical products. The company has changed hands repeatedly over the past 12 years, moving in the process from Norway to Denmark and then, in 2007, to Switzerland.