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Sanofi says holds offer for Genzyme at $69/share


    PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis has not changed its offer of $69 per share for drugmaker Genzyme , a Sanofi spokesman said Monday, declining to comment on a report that the drugmaker had lined up more financing for its bid.

    "We have one offer at $69. No other offer has been made ... We would like to enter into a dialogue," said Sanofi spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin.

    He declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report released over the weekend that said Sanofi-Aventis had lined up more financing from Citigroup and Bank of America Corp .

    Sanofi has said it already has financing from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co , BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA .

    The French drugmaker wants to reach a friendly agreement but has not ruled out a hostile offer made directly to Genzyme shareholders, sources previously told Reuters.

    Last month, Genzyme rejected Sanofi's $69 per share offer as dramatically undervaluing the U.S. company and not a bid that justified entering merger talks.

    Sources previously told Reuters that Genzyme sought an offer of at least $75 per share before Sanofi could review its books, while some investors want up to $80 a share in a deal. Sanofi wants to buy Genzyme, a leading maker of drugs for rare diseases, to fuel growth as some of its key treatments lose patent protection.

    (Reporting by Nina Sovich; Editing by David Holmes)