Sanofi makes power play for Medivation

Sanofi threatens to go direct to the shareholders if Medivation's board of directors continue to resist an acquisition by the big pharma player

Last week Sanofi published an open letter offering to acquire Medivation for $52.50 (£36.09) per share but was rejected by the company’s board.

Today Sanofi has released another open letter highlighting that Medivation’s shares traded at $27 (£18.62) less than three months ago and that Sanofi’s proposal, “is almost a 100% premium to that price. It is over a 50% premium to average trading prices prior to there being takeover rumors.”

The letter also informed the Medivation board that Sanofi had been in direct contact with the company’s shareholders who had shown overwhelming support for the transaction to take place.

The letter, addressed to Medivation’s board, reads: “You should know that an acquisition of Medivation is a priority for Sanofi and we are committed to effecting it.

“If you are not prepared to engage with us, we have no choice but to go directly to your shareholders. As you know, your shareholders have the ability to act at any time by written consent to remove and replace the board.

“If the Medivation board of directors continues to refuse to engage with us, then we intend to commence a process to remove and replace members of the board.”