[读书学习] Activist Investors Icahn, Whitworth Boost Genzyme Stakes

何鸿燊

By Meg Tirrell and Miles Weiss
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Activist investors Carl Icahn and Ralph Whitworth raised their stakes in Genzyme Corp., the biotechnology company forced last year to stop production because of manufacturing plant contamination.

Whitworth’s Relational Investors LLC held 10.6 million Genzyme common shares at Dec. 31, according to a Form 13F filed yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That was up from 6.9 million shares at Sept. 30, a previous filing by the San Diego-based money management firm shows. Icahn Capital LP more than doubled its Genzyme stake to 4.8 million shares from 1.5 million shares during the fourth quarter, according to a separate Form 13F filed yesterday.

Shares of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Genzyme, the world’s biggest maker of enzyme drugs for genetic diseases, have dropped 24 percent in the last 12 months as the company shut a main manufacturing plant because of contamination, causing product shortages. Genzyme has been pressured by investors and last month reached an agreement with Relational, the company’s fourth-largest shareholder, deferring the investment firm’s request for board representation.

Under the accord, Relational would support Genzyme’s board nominees and proposals in 2010, and Genzyme would appoint Whitworth to its board if Relational requested representation in November, Genzyme said in a Jan. 7 statement. On Jan. 28, Genzyme also adopted new compensation plans to address concerns from Relational.

Whitworth and Icahn didn’t return calls placed yesterday to their offices after normal business hours. A call after business hours to Genzyme spokesman John Lacey wasn’t immediately returned.

Icahn Proxy Fights
Billionaire investor Icahn has a history of proxy fights at biotechnology companies. The investor on Jan. 28 told Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen Idec Inc. that he may wage his third proxy battle at that company in as many years, seeking three director posts on the board. San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. ousted its board chairman in June in a proxy fight with him, and he won a battle in 2006 at ImClone Systems Inc., now owned by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., and overhauled its board and management.

Genzyme shut its Allston facility in Boston last June after infection with the germ Vesivirus 2117, causing shortages of Cerezyme, its best-selling drug, and Fabrazyme. In November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that Genzyme’s drugs for treating rare illnesses made at the Allston plant were contaminated with steel fragments, non-latex rubber, and fiber- like materials.

In December, Genzyme named Robert Bertolini, former chief financial officer at Schering-Plough Corp., as an independent director after pressure from Relational.
Genzyme shares gained 46 cents, or 0.83 percent, to $55.73 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.