Subject: ICN Pharmaceuticals Plans to Acquire Stake in Schering
Date: Published: 11/3/88 40 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    ICN Pharmaceuticals Plans to Acquire
    Stake in Schering, German Firm Says
    ----  
    By David J. Jefferson
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Costa Mesa, Calif., has told
 Schering AG it plans to acquire as much as a 25% stake in the
 Berlin, West Germany, pharmaceutical and chemical company, a
 Schering spokesman said.
    The Schering spokesman characterized ICN's plan as a
 "hostile" proposal.  "Schering AG has notified ICN
 Pharmaceuticals that Schering regards any sizable purchase of
 its stock as unwelcome," the company said in a statement.  The
 spokesman noted that ICN's bid will be blocked by limitations
 Schering has on voting rights.
    An ICN spokesman said Scherings's announcement was
 "unexpected," and he declined all comment, except to say that
 ICN would issue its own news release by today.
    In New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday,
 ICN shares closed at $6.25, down 25 cents.
    ICN is best known as the maker of ribavirin, an antiviral
 drug that it has been trying to promote as a treatment for
 AIDS. ICN is the target of three federal investigations
 stemming in part from its testing and marketing of ribavirin,
 which it sells under the brand name Virazole.  The Securities
 and Exchange Commission is also investigating the company for
 possible stock manipulation and insider trading.

[53 lines irrelevant to AIDS have been removed. -- sysop]


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