Sanofi makes $9.3 billion bid to acquire oncology drug firm Medivation

In a move that might spark a bidding war, French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) officially revealed that it has made an offer to acquire USA-based Medivation (Nasdaq: MDVN). Medivation shares moved 5.48% higher to $54.90 in pre-market trading this morning.

Sanofi said it has sent a letter to Medivation, in which it makes a non-binding proposal to acquire Medivation for $52.50 per share. This would represent an all-cash transaction valued at around $9.3 billion.Combining Sanofi and Medivation represents a compelling strategic and financial opportunity to drive significant value for the respective companies' shareholders, employees, patients and caregivers. The proposed purchase price represents a premium of over 50% to Medivation's two-month volume weighted average price prior to there being takeover rumors.

Earlier this month, rumors emerged that Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) had held international talks about a bid for Medivation, with a transaction valued of $9.99 billion mooted. At the same time it was suggested that Medivation had received an unsolicited takeover offer from Sanofi that it rejected, and also that the likes of Roche, Gilead Sciences and Celgene were eyeing an acquisition of the company. Also mentioned was Japan’s Astellas, which has a cancer drug marketing deal with Medivation.