Nordic Capital may fetch EUR10bn for Nycomed

In a sign that markets are showing signs of life, Nordic Capital portfolio company Nycomed, a Swiss drug manufacturer, has been put on the block with a price tag of up to EUR10bn.

"Much of the market is dead, but some players in certain sectors are very much alive," one adviser told unquote". "Corporates are natural buyers for healthcare companies and they are still out there and able to buy." Indeed the industry has seen a swathe of M&A activity: Merck and Schering-Plough recently announced their $41bn merger, less than two months after Pfizer agreed to the $68bn takeover of rival Wyeth. The market has also seen the announcement of Roche taking full control of Genentech and biotechs Gilead Sciences and CV Therapeutics merging.

If successful, the deal would have a price tag equivalent to 10x the company's 2009 EBITDA estimate.

Nordic acquired the business in 2005 in a EUR1.8bn buyout from DLJ Merchant Banking and Blackstone Group. In 2006 Nordic provided fresh equity for the EUR4.2bn bolt-on of Switzerland's Altana.

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