Its bid to buy Genentech may have stalled but Roche’s latest spot of fundraising in a week, selling euro bonds, means that the Swiss major may not need any bank loans to finance its bid for total control of the US biotech giant.
Roche’s bond sale, which was managed by Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Banco Santander, has raised more than 11.1 billion euros. The relatively high coupons that Roche is paying on the bonds, which include four-,seven- and 12-year notes, affected the Swiss firm’s share price negatively but the sale once again proves the attractiveness of Roche to investors.
This latest deal comes a week after Roche sold $16 billion in a six-part bond issue in the USA to help finance its $42 billion hostile bid for the 44% stake in Genentech it does not already own. This now means that the Basel-based group has now raised more than $30 billion in a week, and both of the sales have broken records.
As a result, observers believe that Roche could now finance its offer for Genentech with cash and some short-term commercial paper. However the US firm has rejected a hostile bid worth $86.50 per share and Genentech’s board are expected to push for a much higher offer, especially given the amount of cash Roche now has at its disposal.
