Getting your player ready...
French drugmaker Sanofi- Aventis SA said Monday it plans to buy U.S. health care company Chattem Inc., maker of over-the-counter mainstays such as Gold Bond skin products, for $1.9 billion in cash.
The deal also gives Sanofi- Aventis a distribution base for its popular allergy drug Allegra, which is awaiting approval to switch from prescription-only to an over-the- counter version, and for future switches of other drugs approaching the end of their patents.
Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis said it will offer $93.50 per share — 44 percent more than Chattem’s average price over the past six months. The Chattanooga, Tenn., company makes dozens of consumer health care products, including Icy Hot pain-relief medicine and Selsun Blue shampoo.
