Things are starting to heat up

Shortly after Nycomed announced it's bid for Solvay, one (maybe two more suitors looked to throw their hat in the rings late last week). Abbott and UCB seem to be gathering their resources for a bid for Solvay's pharma division, which would likely drive the price upwards(as evidenced by Nycomed's potential increase in their bid described here) and really determine who wants possession of Solvay's products.

What I want to know is, if Solvay is that lucrative then why has it taken so long for a bidding war to commence? Solvay has been up for sale for over 6 months and I don't think you can blame the lack of early interest on the economy (there have been multiple mergers and acquisitions taking place since January). Seems almost like Nycomed was trying to sneak the deal under the radar because of the lack of early interest and now the activity has drawn other interest in the industry. I think the ultimate winner here will be Solvay and somebody will end up paying more than he/she expected when this whole thing got started.

Read more about Abbott and UCB jumping on board here


Oh, and in case you're interested, here's a good list of companies with definite interests in the H1N1 pandemic, courtesy of biomedreports: Flu Stocks

Keep an eye on the cell derived technology for developing vaccines, lots of potential with that manufacturing platform....