Sanofi Board Split Over Bristol Myers Merger -- London Times

According to a report this morning in the London Times, the board of French drugmaker sanofi-aventis is split on whether to make a bid for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. It says sanofi's chairman, Jean-Francois Dehecq, favors the deal, while CEO Gerard Le Fur thinks the company is better off focusing on its own drug research and development. Citing unnamed sources, the paper said the older Dehecq's opinion likely carries more weight among both board members and sanofi shareholders. Sanofi officials this morning declined to comment on whether the company was considering a Bristol-Myers merger, but denied there was a difference of opinions between its chairman and CEO. Rumors of a potential merger first emerged on Jan. 29 when French financial newsletter La Lettre de l'Expansion claimed the two had signed a pre-merger agreement.

Sources: London Times, Market Watch, Reuters I, II
Commentary: WSJ: Bristol- Myers Transaction Price Already Priced In • Will Sanofi -Aventis Merge With Bristol- Myers Squibb? • Bristol- Myers New CEO Appointment Only Increases Takeover Rumors
Stocks/ETFs to watch: sanofi-aventis (SNY), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY). Competitors: Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), Novartis AG (NVS), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), GlaxoSmithKline plc [ADR] (GSK). ETFs: Pharmaceutical HOLDRs (PPH), iShares Dow Jones US Pharmaceuticals (IHE), SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals (XPH)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.