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A giant French dug manufacturing firm is poised to launch an $18billion plus takeover bid for the parent company of one of Haverhill's leading industries.

Genzyme, which is currently based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has research and production facilities in Haverhill, including the landmark 'twin towers', is to be the target of a bid by Sanofi-Aventis SA, according to inside sources.

If the biotechnology giant resists a takeover approach it is likely Sanofi will launch a hostile bid, analysts say.

No other bidder is likely to emerge for Genzyme, and Sanofi will probably succeed in acquiring the company for $74 to $77 a share, Citigroup analysts Mark Dainty and Yaron Werber wrote in a report to clients today.

Investors in Genzyme say Paris-based Sanofi may have to pay at least $80 a share, or $21.3 billion, to acquire the maker of drugs that fight genetic diseases.

Sanofi chief executive Officer Chris Viehbacher is said to have support from his board to offer as much as $70 a share, or about $18.7 billion, and to be preparing a formal offer letter.

“If Genzyme management are resistant or commanding an unfair price, it is possible that Sanofi will launch a direct tender offer to shareholders to bypass management and the board,” Dainty and Werber wrote.

Genzyme, under pressure from investors, has cut back its defences against a hostile takeover in recent years, the analysts said.

The company’s entire board is up for election annually, and in June shareholders reduced the threshold required to call a special meeting to 40 percent of shares from 90 percent.

Globally, Genzyme is recognised as one of the leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry. With a mission to improve the lives of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases, the company is committed to developing and delivering highly effective therapies and diagnostic products.

Genzyme in the UK employs approximately 600 people in research, development as well as commercial manufacturing and distribution roles across four different sites in Cambridge, Haverhill, Oxford and Kent.

Genzyme's Haverhill operation has been a part of company since 1982, employs 350 people and has three distinct functions: cold chain supply centre, manufactures APIs and scale up and development of Genzyme’s new synthetic molecules.

The company initially took over the former Koch-Light laboratory site on Haverhill's industrial estate in 1982 and has since invested massively in the site and the town.