French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) is seen posting a drop in fourth-quarter earnings next week due to more generic competition, a trend it hopes to counter by buying U.S. biotech group Genzyme Corp (GENZ.O). After months of haggling, Sanofi this week gained access to detailed financial information about Genzyme as the two agreed in principle on the terms of a takeover, raising expectations that a final deal can be hammered out in the near term. [ID:nN01105284] [ID:nN31198421] A takeover would be Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher's biggest of the many deals the company has pulled off since he took office at the end of 2008 and Sanofi's biggest since it bought Aventis in 2004.
Source
