Takeover offer rejected
Monday, Jan. 26, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.
PARIS -- Sanofi-Synthelabo SA on Sunday made a 47.8- billion-euro ($60.1 billion) hostile bid for Aventis SA to combine France's top two drugmakers and form the third-biggest company in the industry. Aventis rejected the offer today as too low.
A combination would allow Sanofi, facing a patent challenge and itself vulnerable to a takeover, to cut costs and expand its U.S. sales force.
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