SOLVAY INTEREST IN UMICORE

[BIZ: Brussels, April 17]
The chemicals company Solvay maybe interested in the metal processing activities of Umicore. If Solvay succeeds in selling its pharmaceuticals department it is possible, in the view of the analyst, that it may try to takeover Umicore. The sale of pharmaceuticals would produce a lot of cash for Solvay, and this would allow them to go in for takeovers. Solvay is already considering this and it could provide the group with as much as EUR 5bn. The French company Sanofi-Aventis is seen an important candidate, but other names that have been mentioned are Novartis, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Takeda and Abbott which already has a cooperative agreement with Solvay.

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