Pfizer in bid to snap up Germany’s Ratiopharm
04 Mar 2010
Global pharmaceutical major Pfizer Inc.plans to bid as much as 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion) for German generic drug maker Ratiopharm, say reports in the western media.
Earlier, Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Sanofi-Aventis, and Iceland's Actavis, were reported to be in the race.
The German company is expected to make a decision by the end of the month.
Ulm-based Ratiopharm, owned by the Merckle family of late German billionaire Adolf Merckle, has been on the block for some time, is being sold to repay debt.
The 74-year-old Merckle lost big money during the financial crisis, and committed suicide on 5 January 2009. (See: German billionaire Merckle commits suicide over financial mess)
According to analysts, the sale if takes place at the estimated range of $4.1 billion to $4.5 billion will be the biggest generic company buyout since Teva bought Barr Pharmaceuticals for $7.4 billion in July 2008.
