Amgen, Alexion, y lunes de fusión

Speaking of Amgen, dedicated readers of the Spanish news site Intereconomia.com will know that the company is, according to sources, poised to offer $200 a share for Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Those of you whose news diet does not include the publication that produces “El Gato al Agua” might wonder: How reliable is Intereconomia.com? It turns out the publication’s according-to-sources buyout reports have tended not to come true over the years (with a couple notable exceptions), which is to say the cat might not reach the water on this one.

But that didn’t stop Alexion from trading up about 8% yesterday. “We can debate the validity of the source, sure,” Mizuho analyst Salim Syed wrote in a note investors, “but the concept of this happening doesn’t sound too crazy to me.” Syed notes that Amgen has been particularly cagey about M&A questions of late, and “merger Monday is only a few days away.”

Buen fin de semana.