NEW YORK: Pfizer Inc has approached U.S. cancer drug maker Medivation Inc to express interest in an acquisition, raising the possibility of a bid rivaling a $9.3 billion offer by Sanofi SA, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Pfizer's approach comes less than a week after Sanofi went public with its $52.50 per share cash offer, complaining that Medivation refused to engage. Medivation subsequently rejected the offer as too low. Its shares closed on Tuesday at $57.52.
Medivation has not yet decided whether it should engage with Pfizer in negotiations and is in discussions with its financial and legal advisers, the people said. There is no certainty that Pfizer will press ahead with a bid, they added.
Sanofi currently has no plans to raise its offer and is waiting for Medivation to launch an auction to sell itself before it makes any new bid, some of the people said.
The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is not public. Medivation, Sanofi and Pfizer declined to comment.
Based in San Francisco, Medivation is best known for its oncology drug Xtandi, which treats prostate cancer.
For Pfizer, a deal with Medivation would mark another attempt at building scale in patented drugs after it scrapped its $160 billion acquisition of Dublin-based Allergan Plc (AGN.N) last month.
The breakdown came days after the U.S. Treasury issued new rules that weighed on Pfizer's ability to slash its tax bill by using the deal to redomicile in Ireland.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read said in an interview with Reuters that he would consider another merger of any size, as long as the deal makes sense. He did not comment on Medivation.
Sanofi is vying for Medivation in an attempt to expand in the lucrative oncology sector, as it struggles to compensate for declining revenues from a key diabetes drug that recently lost patent protection.
Sanofi's unsolicited approach for Medivation has echoes of its bid for rare disease drug maker Genzyme in 2011.
Chinese power company had intended to acquire up to 18.336 billion ordinary shares of K-Electric, representing 66.4...
MARI also successfully drilled and tested another appraisal well in the Mari Ghazij formation located in Mari D&PL
Gold rates decreased by $30 to $2,381 per ounce in the international market
Growing number of Americans have seen their savings dwindle as rising prices squeeze budgets while interest rates stay...
IMF will closely watch the privatization of PIA by the end of June
PSX lays down the groundwork to encourage listed companies to adopt ESG reporting in line with global standards