Can't you feel the vibe, readers?
"’09 had hookups on hold; Recession chilled mergers and acquisitions, but 2010 may perk up" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff | January 13, 2010
2009 was the slowest year for mergers and acquisitions in recent memory....
But most Massachusetts firms acquired last year were small, often struggling companies that were forced to sell at bargain prices because they were running low on cash. Many also saw their value depleted by the economy, hurt in their sales and their profits....
“The majority of companies were sold against the will of the owners,’’’ said Roderick Robertson, managing partner of Briggs Capital LLC, a boutique mergers and acquisition advisory firm in Dedham. “They were reluctant sellers walking the gangplank.’’
But to the Globe, this is a good thing!
Merger activity was particularly slow for manufacturers and other industrial companies, which were hit hardest by the recession. In contrast, life sciences companies, less affected by the downturn, continued to find ways to strike deals.
See: Vampires Are Real
Who knows what to think when you read the Globe business section anymore -- other than something stinks.
Examples include Celgene Corp., which bought Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge for $640 million, Endo Pharmaceuticals’ purchase of Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Lexington for $636 million, and Novartis AG’s acquiring Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cambridge for $500 million. A shortage of money was a major explanation for the drop-off in deals.
Related: MSM Xmas Gifts: To Special Interests
Private equity firms and other investment companies, which typically buy companies in hopes they will improve operations and sell them later for a profit, had trouble raising money.
Rare, if ever.
Typically, investors put up a small percentage of cash and borrow the rest. But that became difficult during the financial crisis. “The banks are just being horribly conservative right now,’’ said Robertson....
All those trillions in alleged liquidity loot... gone.
That should change this year. With the economy improving, credit slowly becoming more available, and stock prices rising, M&A specialists predict much more deal-making in 2010. Data from Thomson Reuters show merger activity increasing late last year. James E. Dawson, a Boston attorney who handles acquisitions and merger deals, for example, said he is involved in several deals, one for a life sciences company, another for a technology firm.
Related: Biotech Giveaway Was Borrowed Money
Yeah, I'd be doing well, too, if the government borrowed $1 billion and gave it to me.
The improving economy, he said, is encouraging companies to take on more risk.... “I think we’re going to see more deals as the credit markets free up and as sellers realize they are going to have to deal with lower valuations if they want to sell,’’ Dawson said....
Robertson has a more pessimistic analysis of what will unfold: More companies will be forced to sell, he said, simply because they will run out of money and can’t hang on much longer....
But, again, this is a GOOD THING, right?
“People with pocketbooks are going to be able to buy their competitors really cheap. The price is going to be down 20 to 30 percent.’’
See: Black Sunday: Naughty or Nice?
Oh, I'm sorry, who benefited off the economic crisis?--more--"
Related: Forrester: Tech spending will rise 8%
Yeah, I'm sure that will benefit you a whole pile, readers.
Just like these losing looters:
"Drug is recapturing its market, Genzyme says; 80 percent of users back on Cerezyme since virus shut down Allston Landing plant" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | January 13, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO - Genzyme Corp.’s embattled chief executive, Henri Termeer, told investors yesterday that about 80 percent of patients who use Cerezyme, the company’s drug for a rare genetic disorder, have resumed treatments after a supply interruption caused by a virus at its Allston Landing plant last year.
Related: Genzyme Leaking Out of Massachusetts
Aren't you glad government borrowed that billion on your behalf, Bay-Staters?
Termeer, speaking at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference here, also said leaders at Cambridge-based Genzyme have had no contact with billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, who has been quietly buying Genzyme stock as the biotechnology company struggles to solve production problems. According to recent regulatory filings, he has about 1.5 million shares.
Related: The Health Care Conferences You Never Heard About
Genzyme’s viral contamination and supply shortages, which have depressed its earnings projections and stock value, were the main subject of Termeer’s mea culpa presentation to a standing-room-only crowd of about 600 at the conference.... Termeer said he was encouraged because most Cerezyme patients were resuming therapy, despite the availability of drugs by Britain’s Shire PLC and Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc., of Israel....
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Genzyme Going Down
Thank you, Mass. taxpayers!
--more--"
Yeah, Globe seems more PITCHMAN than NEWSMAN these days.
"Life science firms pitch optimism; New products, profits on the way, investors are told" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | January 14, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO - “This year is going to be a big year.’’
With a billion in tax loot out there, I would feel that way, too.
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device company leaders from around the world, including dozens based in Massachusetts, have converged here for the 28th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference this week. They have packed the corridors of the aging and ornate Westin St. Francis Hotel to tell their stories - and to try to raise money - at the life sciences industry’s leading investment forum.
Related: The Therapeutic Rip-Off
Discussing how they are going to do it.
This year’s event has drawn more than 6,500 bankers, analysts, other industry insiders, many wearing dark suits and transmitting real-time business intelligence to Wall Street and the big Boston mutual fund houses via BlackBerries and other smartphones.
Oh, REAL FUN CROWD!
While there have been uncomfortable moments involving two major Cambridge companies - Henri Termeer defending his leadership at Genzyme Corp. as it scrambles to fix production problems, Biogen Idec Inc.’s James C. Mullen avoiding any mention of his recent decision to step down from the company’s top post - the mood was generally upbeat....
Covidien chief executive Richard Melia, echoing the sentiments of many industry executives at the conference, said: “It’s been all about growth, but it’s now at the point where we have to start thinking about earnings.’’
Uh-oh, taxpayers!
See: VenCap's Empty Vein
--more--"Related:
Evergreen funds will be renamed
Regardless, Evergreen, which has 67 funds, had been losing business.
