French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis on Feb. 16 won control of giant U.S. biotechnology group Genzyme after increasing its offer considerably in a drawn out battle.
Sanofi-Aventis will pay $20.1 billion for Genzyme, with a further payment of $3.8 billion depending on how the U.S. company performs, the two companies said in a statement.
The two boards unanimously approved the deal and hope to close at the beginning of the second quarter, they said.
Sanofi-Aventis initially offered $18.5 million or $69 per share in October last year after talks on a tie-up with Genzyme made no progress.
At $20.1 billion, or $74 per share, the deal is second only to Roche's acquisition of another US firm, Genentech for $46.8 billion in 2009.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
