When French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Aventis finally completed the $20bn takeover of US biotech group Gen-zyme in April this year, it marked the end of a protracted and sometimes painful courtship between the two companies. Sanofi first approached Genzyme last summer and was firmly rebuffed. In October, the French group made a formal, if unwelcome, offer and there followed months of negotiations before the US biotech group capitulated. Throughout the process, Sanofi was appealing not just to the Genzyme board but to its shareholders - and the company knew its stance would be significantly enhanced if the talk was backed up by solid finance. So, as soon as the offer was formalised in the final quarter of 2010, Sanofi put a $15bn bridging loan in place. "The bridge finance was a good mechanism because the outcome of the bid was uncertain and it took months to reach agreement with Genzyme. We were not obliged to have the money in place but we felt more comfortable having it there and it showed we meant business both to the Genzyme board and its shareholders," says Olivier Klaric, vice-president for financing and treasury at Sanofi Aventis.
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