Genzyme Pressured by Investor

A Genzyme Corp. investor group has sent a letter to the company’s board of directors urging it to sit down at the table with potential acquirer, French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis.

The letter, from New York-based Matrix Asset Advisors, reads in part:

“The Board must weigh the present values of Sanofi’s near-term, certain, cash proposal (or others that might emerge) against the longer and riskier stay-the-course approach. Based on Sanofi’s letter and conference call, it is clear that the $69/share bid is simply a starting point for negotiations, and that their appraisal can move meaningfully higher as Genzyme demonstrates why it should.”

Matrix Chief Investment Officer David Katz said in a interview that if Genzyme begins negotiations at $69 per share, that consensus would likely be reached at a price in the mid $70s per share. If there is another bidder involved, Katz said, Genzyme would likely fetch a price in the low $80s per share.

“There is a very substantial bid on the table. It is sufficient to start discussions, rather than waiting for a higher opening bid,” Katz said.

Matrix owned 319, 900 shares of Genzyme’s stock on June 30, worth approximately $22.4 million at the Aug. 30 closing price. The company upped its stake from 242,000 at the end of the first quarter. The latest holding represents less than 1 percent of Genzyme’s outstanding shares.

In April, Matrix sent a letter to the Genzyme board urging the company to oust CEO Henri Termeer and to consider a sale of the company to a global pharmaceutical company.