A spate of deal headlines in the European pharma sector isputting a floor under regional stock indices.
** Busy Easter for dealmakers with Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline leading the charge.
** Pfizer could get back into mega-deal mode after a4-year hiatus. A reported 60 billion pound offer for AstraZeneca was rejected.
** Citi expects renewed interest in the use of offshore cashheld by US companies to fund ex-US M&A.
** Among potential candidates for takeovers Citi points topreviously cited targets including Shire, Actelion & UCB.
** A pick-up in corporate activity especially in the form ofdeals at hefty premiums to current prices could tempt investorsto chase stocks. (RM: vikram.subhedar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)