Sanofi Wants To Acquire Medivation For $52.50 Per Share

Sanofi SA (ADR) SNY announced on Thursday that it has sent a letter to Medivation Inc MDVN in which it confirmed an offer to acquire the company for $52.50 per share was proposed on April 15 and initial discussions regarding a merger were held in late March. Related Link: Medivation Surges On Reported Pushback Of Sanofi Takeover Effort

Shares of Medivation spiked higher by more than 7 percent Thursday morning and traded at $56.01.

The proposed buyout price implies a $9.3 billion valuation and represents a 50 percent premium to Medivation's two-month volume weighted average price prior to takeover rumors surfacing.

According to Sanofi, an acquisition of Medivation would create a "compelling strategic and financial opportunity to drive significant value for the respective companies' shareholders, employees, patients and caregivers."

Sanofi added that it has a strong track record of integrating acquired companies and Medivation would benefit from its already existing global capabilities, resources, internal pipeline of assets and complementary product offerings.

"Last November, Sanofi outlined our mid-term strategy which includes rebuilding our position in oncology, one of the largest and fastest growing therapeutic areas in the biopharmaceutical sector," said Sanofi Chief Executive Officer Olivier Brandicourt. "With Medivation's best-in-class offerings in prostate cancer, we believe a combination would benefit patients and, at the same time, generate value for shareholders of both companies."