McKesson Corp still committed to proposed JV with Celesio

McKesson Corp still committed to proposed JV with CelesioMcKesson Corp, whose earlier bid was turned down due to no backing from the shareholders, has said that it will pursue a joint venture with Celesio.

The company launched a bid for the German drug distributor but the bid was not accepted it did not get enough shareholder support.  San Francisco-based company said in a statement yesterday that McKesson was unable to get the backing of investors for 75 percent of Celesio's stock with an offer of 23.50 euros a share.

The largest U. S. drug distributor said that it has agreed to buy the 50.01 percent stake that was held by family-owned investment firm Franz Haniel & Cie GmbH for 23 euros a share and launched a tender offer for the remaining shares.  The company has now increased the bid to a value of about 4 billion euros or about $5.4 billion.

The company is now planning to enter into a deal with Celesio, John H.  Hammergren, chairman and chief executive officer, according to analysts.  Stuttgart, Germany-based Celesio has 132 wholesale branches supplying 65,000 pharmacies and hospitals across 14 European countries.

Hammergren said, "Clearly a joint venture would be an alternative.  We have been talking to Celesio for some time about various alternatives."