If the rumoured sale of its Sandoz generics business to private equity goes ahead Novartis will be very rich indeed, and many are hoping that the company will use the proceeds on a big M&A move to refresh its pipeline. But its chief executive, Vas Narasimhan, did his best to dash these hopes on the company’s fourth-quarter conference call today: “Our focus is not larger M&A, our focus is bolt-on deals,” he said – but he would hardly be expected to spell out such an aim if it existed. The sweet spot for the Swiss group are deals with an up-front cost of less than $1bn, and a total deal value of less than $2bn, Mr Narasimhan added, and this would certainly be in keeping with its recent acquisitions. But a sizeable deal is still a strong expectation, regardless of the group’s recent track record. Sandoz could fetch up to $25bn if Novartis does sell it, and of course Novartis is already sitting on the $21bn it got for its stake in Roche. So Novartis has the wherewithal to do a big buy, its two-year $15bn share buyback programme notwithstanding.
| Novartis’s sweet spot - its recent bolt-on M&A | ||
|---|---|---|
| Announcement date | Target | Value |
| Dec 22, 2021 | Gyroscope Therapeutics | $800m up front; $700m in milestones |
| Sep 21, 2021 | Arctos Medical | Undisclosed |
| Dec 17, 2020 | Cadent Therapeutics | $210m up front; $560m in milestones |
| Oct 29, 2020 | Vedere Bio | $150m up front; $130m in milestones |
| Source: Evaluate Pharma & company releases. https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/deals-snippets/novartis-mulls-shifting-sandoz | ||
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.