Serono linked with Shire buyout

Shire, Britain’s third largest pharmaceutical company, has been named as a possible acquisition target for Serono, the Swiss pharmaceutical company.

After Serono was outbid by Shire for the acquisition of Transkaryotic Therapies in 2004, Serono could turn its eye to Shire in a renewed attempt to gain access to Transkaryotic Therapies’ portfolio, according to the Independent.

Serono has been given permission by its investors to build a $5.6 billion (3.08 billion pounds) fund to help drive possible acquisitions. Arnoud Diemers, an ABN Amro Fund manager, told the newspaper: “Management has a clear, renewed sense of urgency to do a deal.”

Another source said that Shire would be the “best fit”, while Samir Devani of Nomura Code Securities stated: “[Serono] needs to be seen to be doing something, but the problem is that there isn’t that much out there.”

In April, Serono reported strong first quarter results, highlighted by total revenues increasing by 11 per cent. After raising the outlook for its earnings-per-share guidance, chief executive officer Ernest Bertarelli – said to be one of the richest men in the world – stated: “Moving forward we will continue to invest in our existing businesses and research and development pipeline and we intend to actively pursue opportunities for growth through acquisitions.”

Shire is headquartered in Basingstoke and in 2004 had revenues of $1.36 billion (747 million pounds). The company has four drugs in development for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, one for inflammatory bowel disease, one for hunter syndrome and also one for the treatment of Gaucher syndrome, a genetic disease.

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