Premium required for any Catalent-Danaher deal ‘up for debate,’ says BofA

BofA analyst Michael Ryskin noted that Bloomberg indicated that Danaher (DHR) has expressed takeover interest in Contract Drug Manufacturing Organization, or CDMO, Catalent (CTLT). Though Danaher has said it was uninterested in pursuing services deals, at a high level such a combination would make sense, the firm contends, as it sees synergies along with a "strong asset" trading at a discount. However, it is not clear whether Catalent is "for sale" and the premium required for such a deal is "up for debate," as the firm wonders whether Catalent is being valued off of the $56 stock price of February 3 or the $113 price of "only six months ago." BofA maintains its Buy rating and $310 price target on Danaher shares, which are down $6.84, or 2.5%, to $263.01 in pre-market trading.