By Jeanne Whalen, Jeffrey McCracken and Dana Cimilluca 
   Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) has emerged as a strong competitor to purchase the pharmaceutical unit of Belgian conglomerate Solvay SA (SVYSY), setting up a showdown with rival bidder Nycomed for a deal that could be valued at EUR4 billion to EUR5 billion.

Abbott has made an offer for the business, people familiar with the matter say. UCB SA (UCB.BT) of Belgium is also considering a bid, the people said. The exact amounts and other details of the offers couldn't be learned.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)

The competition may bode well for Solvay as it seeks to win the highest price possible for the drug unit, which it put up for sale earlier this year. Solvay's board is scheduled to meet Friday, and a deal could be reached soon after that, people familiar with the matter said.

Officials at Abbott, Solvay, Nycomed and UCB declined to comment.

Abbott has re-emerged after earlier dropping out of the auction, people familiar with the matter said. Abbott of late has been in a more acquisitive mode, making a strong run this summer at purchasing a veterinary medicine business from Merck & Co. (MRK). French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY) eventually bought the asset for $4 billion.

In the last several months, Abbott has made three acquisitions, including deals in September to purchase medical-device company Evalve Inc. for $410 million and eye-care device maker Visiogen Inc. for $400 million.

Abbott and Solvay already have a partnership: they co-market Tricor and Trilipix, two drugs that treat cholesterol and triglycerides, which are harmful fats found in the blood. Solvay also sells drugs for hypertension and Parkinson's disease.

Meanwhile, there is some overlap in the ownership structure of Solvay and UCB. The Janssen family of Belgium is a large shareholder in a holding company that owns 36.2% of UCB, and is also among the families that control a holding company that owns 30% of Solvay.

Nycomed, a Swiss drug company owned by private equity firms, has been a serious suitor since Solvay put its drug unit on the block in April. One person familiar with the matter said Nycomed has placed a bid for the unit that is closer to EUR4 billion than to EUR5 billion.

A Solvay deal would nearly double Nycomed's size. Nycomed had sales of EUR3.35 billion last year, while Solvay's pharma division had sales of EUR2.7 billion.