Sanofi makes US$9.3b offer for cancer drug firm Medivation

[PARIS] French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said Thursday it had made a bid to acquire Medivation in a deal valuing the US cancer drug firm at around US$9.3 billion.

Under terms of the offer, Sanofi would pay US$52.50 per share in cash for the San Francisco-based firm, which specialises in cancer treatments.

If the bid is accepted, it would be Sanofi's biggest acquisition since it bought the US biotech group Genzyme in 2011 for more than US$20 billion.

"Thanks to Medivation's excellent prostate cancer treatments, we believe that a merger with Medivation would benefit patients and, at the same time, create value for shareholders in both companies," said Sanofi's chief executive Olivier Brandicourt in a statement.

Sanofi is the 11th largest pharmaceutical company in the world by stock market valuation and the second biggest firm in France after oil giant Total with a market capitalisation which stood at around 100 billion euros on Thursday.

AFP