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Bristol-Myers offers to buy ImClone

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From the Associated Press

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. on Thursday offered $4.5 billion in cash for biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc., saying the two, which are cancer drug partners, were “a natural fit.”

The proposal offers ImClone stockholders $60 a share, a 30% premium over the company’s closing price of $46.44 on Wednesday. Bristol-Myers, the world’s No. 14 drug maker by revenue, already owns about 17% of ImClone.

The two companies, both based in New York, have been partners since September 2001 in developing Erbitux, which is approved for treating advanced colorectal cancer and head and neck cancers.

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ImClone said it was “currently studying the situation.”

Shares of ImClone surged beyond Bristol’s offering price and rose $17.49, or 37.7%, to $63.93. Bristol-Myers shares fell 39 cents to $21.12.

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