CNBC's Faber: MedImmune Sale Appears Imminent; Shares Gain
MedImmune may be close to completing a sale of the company just days after the drugmaker said it hired Goldman Sachs to explore opportunities, sources told CNBC's David Faber on Wednesday.
"I can tell you they are looking to get this deal done over the weekend," Faber said. "Monday morning is what I'm hearing is when they would love to have an announcement of a transaction."
Faber added that the takeover price was yet to be determined but it is a "very competitive situation" with four buyers still participating in an auction.
Last Thursday, MedImmune said it hired Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of the company, which now has a market cap of about $11 billion.
Talk of a bid for MedImmune first began after billionaire investor Carl Icahn disclosed in February he owned 2.8 million shares of the company. On Monday, Icahn said he no longer intends to put forth an opposition slate of directors at MedImmune's upcoming annual meeting.
However, Icahn said he is reserving the right to launch a proxy contest should MedImmune not complete a sale.
MedImmune, one of the larger independent biotech firms in the United States, is best known as the maker of the nasal spray flu vaccine FluMist, but it also has two other marketed products -- respiratory drug Synagis, and Ethyol for reducing chemotherapy toxicities.
Potential acquirers of MedImmune may include Merck, Wyeth, Eli Lilly and Abbott Laboratories .
