Sanofi-Aventis publishes offer for Zentiva

Sanofi-Aventis has announced the opening of an offer by its wholly-owned Sanofi-Aventis Europe subsidiary for the acquisition of all the ordinary shares of Zentiva.

The company has bid 1,050 Czech koruny (36.21 pounds) for each share in the company, including those held in the form of GDSs, with this price representing a 14.6 premium over the closing price of the shares on April 30th 2008, the day before PPF Group announced an intended cash offer for the firm.

Sanofi-Aventis said the offer would be open for a period of ten weeks, after which it may be extended if more time is needed to meet the conditions of the offer, subject to the agreement of the Czech National Bank.

Currently, Sanofi-Aventis Europe holds 24.88 per cent of the share capital and voting rights in Zentiva, equal to 9.5 million shares.

“The Sanofi-Aventis group is already established in the various markets where Zentiva operates and is convinced that the intended acquisition of the control of Zentiva carries a strong strategic rationale,” the company said.

In June 2008, Sanofi-Aventis announced the opening of a cutting-edge vaccine production centre at Val de Reuil in north-west France.