| Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. made an unsolicited bid to buy ImClone Systems for $60/share or $4.5 billion. ImClone organized a committee to evaluate the bid but according to Chairman Carl Icahn, the bid `substantially undervalued' the company. Bristol-Myers currently owns 17% of ImClone's outstanding shares.
ImClone has hinted that Bristol might have been privy to confidential information. According to ImClone, the board was recently discussing restructuring company into two businesses- one for Erbitrux, a $1.3 billion cancer drug franchise, and another for its promising drug development pipeline.
John Celentano, a senior vice-president at Bristol-Myers, joined ImClone's board in May. While Mr. Celentano has an obligation to ImClone and representatives from Bristol have denied receiving any confidential information, there are still speculations about information being passed. Many analysts feel that a sale is on the horizon and that the back and forth between the two companies is the beginning of negotiations. |
