Reuters reports that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) is thought to be the most likely buyer of German drugmaker Ratiopharm. The firm is owned by the Merckle family, the head of which, Adolf Merckle, committed suicide on Monday. His group faced heavy losses, largely on speculation in shares of carmaker Volkswagen.
The group has been forced to sell its Ratiopharm pharmaceuticals business, the second largest drugmaker in Germany, in order to obtain loans from its bankers. Israel's Teva (TEVA.O) is seen as the most likely buyer of drugmaker Ratiopharm, the crown jewel of the Merckle family's business empire which it has agreed to sell under pressure from its banks.
Reuters quotes analyst Andreas Theisen of as saying that Tevacould use Ratiopharm to gain a foothold in Germany, and that it had the funds to finance the deal, but that on the other hand Teva had recently won bulk-purchase contracts from Germany's largest health insurer AOK, and might seek to boost business in Europe's largest generics market on its own strength.
Reuters said that it was unable to obtain a comment from Teva.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 7, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009