In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Sanofi-Aventis rejects Genzyme suggestion on higher share offer

Sanofi-Aventis has dismissed suggestions by bid target Genzyme that it had opened the door to paying a higher price for the US biotech firm, deepening an increasingly fractious takeover battle.

Genzyme said yesterday that Sanofi’s chief executive had dangled the possibility of paying as much as $80 per share for the US biotech company at a meeting in September before going hostile with a lower bid of $69 share. French pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi disputed this. “We offered no price range and Genzyme continued to refuse to engage with us on discussions on valuations,” Sanofi chief spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin said. Sanofi wants to acquire Genzyme, the world’s largest maker of drugs for rare genetic diseases, to help drive earnings growth. – (Reuters)

Property prices fall in London

Prices of prime central London property, where many prominent Irish property players are invested, fell for the third month in a row during September as signs continue to point toward a slowdown in the top-end property market.

The Knight Frank Prime Central London Index says the average price of an upmarket property fell by 0.2 per cent over the month and by 0.7 per cent since June.

Figures earlier this week from Primelocation.com found that the value of the UK's most expensive homes has fallen by 1.5 per cent over the last 12 months.

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010

BlackBerry avoids UAE ban

The United Arab Emirates said it would not go ahead with the suspension of BlackBerry mobile communication services next week, saying the device now complied with regulations.

The regulator had said in August that it would ban BlackBerry's messenger, e-mail and web-browser services on October 11th.

After discussions between Research in Motion, the Canadian maker of BlackBerry, the regulator said yesterday: "BlackBerry services are now compliant with the UAE's telecommunications regulatory framework".

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010