Roche Begging for $45 Billion It Doesn't Have
Pfizer did its deal for Wyeth. Eli Lilly did its deal for ImClone. So where is Roche’s acquisition of Genentech?
The non-appearance of the Roche-Genentech buy is currently the longest running show in town — but don’t worry, Reuters reports that Roche management is trying — again! — to get money from somewhere to execute this much-promised, little delivered deal. Here’s a digest of the Reuters report:
Roche has made a fresh round of calls to banks to secure multibillion-dollar loan backing for its Genentech bid
“There has been another round of calls (from Roche), so this should progress a bit more, but I’m not sure if this is a genuine start or not. I don’t think we will see much in the next two weeks,” a banker said.
“Banks are checking if there is internal capital to do the deal, quite honestly, I think it will be difficult. The question is — is there enough capital for a deal of that size,” the senior syndicator said.
BNET readers will remember that Roche needs $45 billion from the banks to make this deal. That’s a problem because some think there isn’t that much financing available. Reuters:
A loan of more than $40 billion would be very challenging even if structured as a bridge loan, sources said. A financing of around $20 billion could be more viable, but would still be a tough call and require quick refinancing.
“$40 billion would require 10 banks doing $4 billion per bank. That’s a lot of risk-weighted capital to burn on a single name,” a loan syndicate head said.
Pfizer’s loans to get Wyeth were $22.5 billion, so you can see why this deal is the snail of Wall Street.
It’s starting to become embarrasing for Roche. The FT hinted that it would pull the trigger before early February. Well, we’re “before early February” right now. And still no bang.
Two brief notes:
- Shares of Genentech rose after the Pfizer-Wyeth deal on the expectation that the banks might loosen their purse strings.
- A complicated agreement keeps Roche from being a Novartis takeover target.
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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