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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Niman who wrote (13642)	1/23/1998 2:41:00 AM
From: Andrew H	Respond to of 32384

You should also reference our posts, so people understand how to put the proper spin on the news, oops, I mean the best interpretation. (:>)

To: Henry Niman who wrote (13642)	1/23/1998 8:49:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Here's yesterday's FT on the SBH/AHP merger: Pharmaceuticals: SmithKline and AHP 'aim to agree merger deal soon' THURSDAY JANUARY 22 1998 By Daniel Green in London and William Lewis in New York SmithKline Beecham and American Home Products aim to agree their proposed merger, which would be the biggest in history, within two to three weeks. Both pharmaceutical giants are keen to avoid damaging staff morale. "This thing is either going to happen soon or not at all," said one source. "The strategic logic is driving the talks, but this week's announcement was premature and there remain a number of issues to resolve." The differences appear to be over the physical location of the combined group's headquarters and the composition of the top management team. There may also be a gap in how each side sees the potential liabilities arising from Redux, AHP's slimming drug which was withdrawn from sale in September because of reported side-effects. Estimates of the potential liability range from $2bn to $4bn. Projected annual cost savings arising from the merger are estimated to be about œ1bn, somewhat less than the figures suggested by some analysts. Yet the two companies are close enough to make a 50-50 merger of equals the most likely structure of the deal. Although SmithKline is growing more quickly, AHP is larger by sales and its share price reflects the slower growth. Jack Stafford, chief executive of AHP, is said to view SmithKline's management team as the one he wants to manage AHP's assets. He wants to remain in a senior management position for 12 to 18 months after the merger is completed. Unlike the previous largest pharmaceuticals industry merger - by Swiss companies Ciba and Sandoz to form Novartis in 1996 - there appear to be no significant differences over desirable disposals or spin-offs after a merger is completed. Jan Leschly, chief executive of SmithKline, flew back on Tuesday to his US base in Philadelphia, where AHP also has its main pharmaceuticals operation, Wyeth Ayerst. Mr Leschly spends more time in the US than the UK even now. The newly merged company is likely to have its primary listing in New York rather than London, and that is likely to lead to sales of SmithKline shares by funds that track the FTSE 100 index. Neither company is thought to be particularly concerned about this, believing that funds tracking US indices will have to buy more shares in the merged company. On Tuesday, following a report in the FT that talks had been taking place, both companies put out a statement confirming they were considering merging. Talks had been going on for several months, and detailed negotiations began in early November. AHP had hoped to be able to announce the deal before Thanksgiving, November 27, and before Mr Stafford was due to go into hospital for an operation. The two companies were unable to complete their talks by that time, and negotiations did not restart until late December.