Novartis&Bayer Schering AG??? (I)

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Bayer AG rose in Frankfurt trading on speculation that Germany’s largest drugmaker may be the target of a takeover bid by Swiss competitor Novartis AG.

Bayer, based in Leverkusen, gained 42 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 36.94 euros. It has lost 29 percent for the 12 months ending March 31, less than the 37 percent drop in the German benchmark DAX Index. Novartis fell 44 centimes, or 1 percent, to 42.3 Swiss francs.

“This is well-trodden ground,” says Thomas Nagel, a trader at Equinet. “I don’t believe there is anything to it.”

Christian Hartel, a spokesman for Bayer, and Eric Althoff, a spokesman at Novartis in Basel, declined to comment.

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