It hasn’t made the news here yet, but Belgian news website De Tijd is reporting that Solvay’s pharma unit has received little interest from bidders.

The reason: too expensive or lack of business synergy.

The article is in Dutch, but here’s the English version (thanks to Google Translate)…typos and grammatical errors not corrected:

The interest for Solvay Pharma appears small. This study reports the London-based merger market sources close to the dossier. Only the British Astra Zeneca would have made a bid for parts of the pharmaceutical arm. Sanofi-aventis, Abbott, Novartis, Bayer, GSK and Takeda would have pulled out.

The takeover rumors around Solvay observe since the pharmaceutical and chemical group in April announced that they have a ’strategic practice’ is for the pharmaceutical division. A partnership, a sale or make a major acquisition, among the possibilities. But there will be speculation that the division is sold.

Wednesday, the chief executive of Astra Zeneca uitschijnen that his group has no interest to the pharmaceutical division of Solvay to take over. “We have what we want a partnership with Solvay (for cholesterol drugs).”

A single bid

Merger Market, a London consultancy that specializes in merger and acquisition news, reports that AstraZeneca has made a bid for parts of the farmatak, particularly the cardiovascular industry and the vaccines. According to Mark van der Geest, analyst at Fortis Bank Nederland, the divisions accounted for respectively 30 and 5 percent of the turnover of Solvay Pharma. A spokesman for Astra Zeneca would not respond to the message, but repeated that the British group is open to the acquisition of end products in its boutique fit.

Van der Geest expects Solvay his crown jewels at this time will not sell and earlier for a public offering of the pharmaceutical leg will choose. Although he is not that extreme another bidder emerges, such as Schering-Plow Organon BioSciences over in 2007.

Too expensive

According to these sources of merger market are Novartis, Bayer and GSK pulled out because of the high price and because the actions do not really fit into their business. A source called the Swiss Nycomed as a potential bidder. Last week it appeared that all the Japanese and American Takeda Abbott were not interested in a takeover.

A Solvay insider last week would have uitschijnen that Astra Zeneca and two large American pharmaceutical groups were the only ones to an acquisition of Solvay Pharma things.

Most analysts assume that Solvay 3-5 billion is for its pharmaceutical activities. Van der Geest appreciates the leg to 5.5 billion euros in the case of a sale and 4.5 billion euros in a stand-alone scenario. He lowers his koesdoel for Solvay of 64 to 58.7 euros.

Stay tuned!!!

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