The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7284 p114
31 January 2004

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Sanofi-Synthelabo (more)
Aventis (www.aventis.com)

Sanofi makes bid for Aventis

Sanofi-Synthelabo made a €47.8bn (£33bn) bid for Aventis on 26 January. If successful, it would create a pharmaceutical company that was the largest in Europe and the third biggest in the world.

The two companies had combined sales of €21.6bn worldwide last year. Merging the two would create savings of €1.6bn by 2006, Sanofi says, mainly through lower sales costs and optimisation of research expenses.

Aventis rejected the bid, which it said offered inferior value compared with the company’s current plans. It also said that Aventis shareholders would have to assume significant risks associated with Sanofi’s main products.