How Close Is A Sanofi, Genzyme Deal? (GENZ, SNY)

The deal has been banded about for months, but now it's looking like it's time for a deal between Sanofi-Aventis SNY and Genzyme GENZ. On January 11, Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer and Sanofi's Chris Viehbacher are going to give presentations at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Two weeks later, both of them will attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Sanofi offered $69 per share for Genzyme, which Genzyme's board has said materially undervalues the company. "It's about time they sat down," said Karl Heinz Koch, an analyst at Helvea. "Termeer has signaled he's more willing to talk and the possibility of treating Campath as a flexible item gives some ground to talk," said Koch. Many believe that Sanofi will ultimately up its offer for Genzyme in this game of high stakes poker, but only if the company is given a reason to do so. With Genzyme shares sitting around $71 per share, the market is betting that Sanofi ups its offer. Many believe a deal will likely get done int he $75-$80 per share range. Shares of Genzyme are up 27 cents to $71.83, while shares of Sanofi are down 17 cents to $32.56 in early Friday trade.