Pharma M&A: Megachatter

Credit woes have made August exciting. But they have largely killed the usual summer scuttlebutt about mergers. That is, with one exception: possible deal-making among cash-gushing, underleveraged drug companies. In the past week, talk has emerged about Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis buying rival German group Bayer, which has a $60bn market capitalisation. So too have whispers that Pfizer might be interested in purchasing $62bn rival Wyeth. If there are any seaworthy companies in the cred...