PARIS (AP) -- French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis said Monday it has extended its unsolicited $18.5 billion takeover offer for U.S.-based biotech company Genzyme.
Sanofi's previous tender offer for Genzyme shares expired just before midnight Friday, and now the French company says it has extended the $69-per-share offer until 11:59 p.m. ET on January 21.
Sanofi said in a statement before the open of the Paris stock exchange on Monday that 2.21 million Genzyme shares were tendered by Friday -- or about 0.9 percent of the U.S. company's outstanding shares.
Sanofi spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin said such a low percentage of acceptance was "typical" in such tender offers, adding that executives at the French company "are not surprised."
"The key message is that we want to engage in a constructive dialogue with Genzyme to reach a transaction," said Podvin, insisting on the "strategic fit" that it would offer.
Shares of Sanofi were down 0.3 percent to €49.16 in late morning trading in Paris. Genzyme shares closed Friday at $69.82 on the Nasdaq exchange.
Massachusetts-based Genzyme, which specializes in drugs for rare diseases, has indicated it would fight Sanofi's hostile takeover effort and last month estimated its own shares are worth $89 apiece.
Sanofi is the world's fourth-biggest drugs maker.
