Bidding war for Sanofi's Opella intensifies as PAI raises bid
All candidates had the same opportunity to submit their best offers within the process deadline, Sanofi said.;
Written By : Farhat Nasim
Published On 2024-10-18 04:15 GMT | Update On 2024-10-18 04:15 GMT
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Paris: French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced on Thursday that it was "surprised" by PAI Partners' renewed and higher bid for its consumer division, Opella. The company noted that the offer was submitted after the official bidding deadline had already passed.
PAI is seeking to outbid U.S. rival Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) for a controlling 50% stake in Opella, the maker of one of France's most-sold painkillers, Doliprane, a source earlier told Reuters, confirming media reports.
Sanofi remained reserved, saying in a statement sent to journalists on Thursday that it was "surprised that an 'improved offer' is being made now, outside the timeframe and the governance process that framed the decision."
All candidates had the same opportunity to submit their best offers within the process deadline, the company said.
BID HIKED BY 2OO MILLION EUROS
The French government made pledges during the COVID-19 pandemic to restore self-sufficiency in healthcare. Labour unions had called for a strike at Sanofi's plants in France on Thursday amid fears a sale to CD&R could result in job losses.
"Doliprane must stay in France. It belongs to the French," CFDT union coordinator and Sanofi production technician Adil Bensetra said outside the Compiegne plant in northern France during Thursday's protest.
"We have already given up too much in terms of French industry. ... We cannot give up health," he said.
"We have elections in the United States with a Donald Trump who has always had an 'American First' policy," he added. "(Trump) could say that all the manufacturing today of these products that are made in France and Europe should be relocated to the United States."
In its revised bid, PAI pledged to preserve headcount and raise investments at Opella's French production sites of Lisieux in Normandy and Compiegne, the source said. It also vowed to keep Opella's headquarters in France, the same source added.
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