Now, every day I go into work, I see a pathetic herd of political backstabbers around me. As usual, the layoffs resulted in survival of the fittest, not the best.
This place is going DOWN. Come bonus time I am looking for a new job; and you may be surprised, there are a TON of good opportunities in tech right now!
You are right. The reason for layoffs was to cover the interest on the loan to acquire Genentech. Sure geography was used as a reason, but many of those kept were simply cheaper. There are exceptions of course, but it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Compare the interest amount in this article to the amount of cost savings as a result of operation excellence.
Roche will pay off Genentech debt by 2012/13-paper
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Roche Holding AG
ROG.VX
CHF137.30
-1.10-0.79%
9:31am CST
GENEVA, March 15 | Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:52am EDT
(Reuters) - Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) expects to pay off the debt it took on to fund its purchase of the remainder of U.S. biotechnology group Genentech Inc DNA.N by 2012/13, Roche's CEO was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Franz Humer, chief executive of the Swiss pharmaceuticals group, told Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung the initial interest bill would be $1.5 billion before tax.
"By 2012/13 we will be free of debt again as before, if nothing serious arises in the meantime," he told the paper in an interview.
Humer said both Genentech and Roche had high net liquidity and both enjoyed strong cashflow which would be strengthened by the merger, making it possible to pay down the debt.
Roche raised $39 billion on the bond market to fund the $46.8 billion purchase of the 44 percent of Genentech it did not already own, in one of three big drug deals this year to create the 7th biggest U.S. pharmaceuticals group by market share. [ID:nLC266887]
On Friday Fitch Ratings cuts its credit rating on Roche by one notch to AA- and its outlook to negative from stable, citing the company's increased debt after the deal. [ID:nLD253335]
Humer said the main challenge in the deal is to retain Genentech's top researchers. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by David Holmes)