NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc (AMLN.O), which spurned a $3.5 billion takeover bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) and is fending off activist investor Carl Icahn, is exploring a sale, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday.
Amylin has hired Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) as its financial advisers and Skadden Arps as its legal adviser, the sources said.
The company, which makes the diabetes drugs Byetta and Bydureon, started reaching out to potential buyers last week, according to the sources.
Amylin and its advisers declined to comment.
The move comes amid broader consolidation in the healthcare sector. Big pharmaceutical companies have been making aggressive bids for promising biotech firms and other targets as they look to find new products and replenish their pipelines. Moreover, these big firms are flush with cash and have easy access to debt to do deals.
Amylin has been considered a possible takeover target for some time. The diabetes market is one of the fastest-growing due to rising rates of obesity. The disease affects more than 300 million people worldwide, including nearly 26 million Americans. Diabetics run a high risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and limb loss.
Analysts have said several drug companies could be potential buyers for Amylin, including AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L), Merck & Co (MRK.N) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T).
Pressure on Amylin increased after news of the failed Bristol-Myers bid leaked and prompted Icahn to turn his sights on the company. Icahn, whose 8.94 percent stake has made him Amylin's third-largest shareholder, has called for a sale and sued the company, demanding the right to nominate directors.
This is at least the second time Icahn has agitated against the company.
In 2009, the billionaire investor and the hedge fund Eastbourne Capital Management succeeded in placing two nominees on the Amylin board: Alexander Denner, who was nominated by Icahn and previously worked for him, and Kathleen Behrens, a former managing director of RS Investments, who was nominated by Eastbourne.
The opportunity for bidders to make their move on Amylin also got a boost when in November last year, Amylin ended a nearly decade-long partnership with Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N).
Amylin and Lilly introduced Byetta in 2005. Bydureon, a longer-acting version, was approved recently. The dissolution of the partnership with Lilly made Amylin responsible for selling its products in the United States, while leaving the company to find a new partner outside the country.
While Amylin is still talking to companies for a partnership outside the United States, a sale is looking more likely, the sources said.
The board, heartened by early results from the Bydureon launch, wants to make sure that it can get the highest price through a sale, one of the sources said.
(Editing by Dale Hudson)
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