Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) is at the centre of another big drugs deal according a number of press reports linking it to a US$14bn takeover of Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN).
Takeover talks are at an advanced stage with the oncology specialist which produces prostate-cancer drug Xtandi, so say the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
Acquisitive Pfizer has seemingly fended off competition from Sanofi, Merk and Celgene which were all said to have had an interest in buying Medivation.
A Reuters report claimed Pfizer would pay a substantial premium to Sanofi’s April US$52.50 per share offer, with a deal value of US$80 per share suggested.
It comes after Pfizer earlier this year scrapped plans to acquire Botox owner Allergan.
Elsewhere the spotlight was also on another deal after US authorities green lighted ChemChina’s proposed US$43bn purchase of Swiss agrichem giant Syngenta.
Experts say the deal – the largest ever international acquisition by a Chines company – is now more likely to go through as American regulatory approval removes significant uncertainty.
London listed investor Allied Minds (LON:ALM) was another focal point after it set up a US$20mln debt facility and helped fund a drug discovery subsidiary.
Irish insulation group Kingspan drew attentions as it revealed an expectation beating 50% rise in profits for the first six months of 2016 which tallied at €154mln. It comes after the acquisition of the Joris Ide and Vicwest businesses, as well as positive organic growth.
Whilst high tides and wild weather caused chaos for many over the weekend, higher water levels may prove good news for Transocean as it attempts to re-float a stranded rig that ran aground on the Isle of Lewis two weeks.
Transocean is all but ubiquitous in the offshore oil and gas industry but the US group, which operated BP’s ill-fated 2010 drill programme in the Gulf of Mexico, tends to get mainstream media attention when things go wrong.
The 17,000-tonne semi-submersible Transocean Winner rig ran aground close to Dalmore beach near Carloway, whilst it was being towed from Norway to Malta.
In the small cap sector Stellar Diamonds PLC (LON:STEL) has revealed details of a deal that would see it form a much larger mining operation than it previously envisaged in Sierra Leone.
The AIM quoted group will, via a reverse takeover, merge with Octea Mining which effectively combines Stellar’s Tongo undeveloped mine with Octea’s nearby Tonguma project.
Together the consolidated project will be host to some 5mln carats which could be extracted through a single mining operation, while the new company’s portfolio would also include some 8mln carats of exploration targets.
Mining could come around a year after the two companies are combined, according to Karl Smithson, Stellar chief executive.