Drugmaker may struggle to outbid

Sanofi-Synthelabo SA, France’s second-largest drugmaker, may struggle to outbid Novartis AG for Aventis SA because the Swiss competitor is more than twice its size and has more cash to trump its hostile €46.5 billion ($55 billion) offer, said investors including Holger Geissler.

“The pressure on Sanofi is quite high,’ said Geissler,. If Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis makes a bid with a major cash portion, “Sanofi won’t be able to raise the offer so it will be acceptable to Aventis shareholders.”