Sanofi discussing about a merge with Bristol Myers Squibb

Sanofi Aventis, the company I am working on a project, is thinking about acquiring Bristol Myers, an American competitor in the pharmaceutical market. This merge would turn Sanofi in the first or second place of the worl market. Sanofi was already n°1 in France and Europe. Pharmaceutical business is facing a deep change in its market, for three main reasons:
- Its getting harder and harder to find out new molecules to create new medicines
- European regulation is offering more and more power to chemists.
- The generic products (same molecule but without a brand name, sort of a retailer brand) is increasing its market shares.
Therefore couple of days ago Pfizer, the current leader, decided to fire 1/10 of its employees. Moreover, Bristol Myers Squibb is under legal investigation process.
However, negotiations haven’t started yet, and this merge remains uncertain, due to all those legal problems.
This merge would help Sanofi to approach the American market, the largest national marketing in the world.