UPDATE 4-Zentiva accepts sweetened $2.6 bln Sanofi bid

(Updates with shareholders, fund manager, analyst comments)

By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jana Mlcochova

PARIS/PRAGUE, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Czech generic drugmaker Zentiva ZNTVsp.PR accepted a new takeover offer from France's Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) on Monday at a price that will likely tempt shareholders, analysts said.

Sanofi said on Monday it had raised its offer to 1,150 Czech crowns per share, a premium of around 6 percent to Zentiva's closing share price of 1,085 crowns on Friday.

The new offer values Zentiva at around 1.8 billion euros ($2.6 billion).

The acquisition takes Sanofi deeper into the field of generic or unpatented medicines -- an area previously shunned by large pharmaceutical companies but which is now receiving increased attention as a way to tap booming emerging markets.

Zentiva rejected an earlier 1,050 crown per share bid by Sanofi, saying it failed to reflect the company's future growth potential.

"We believe that the improved offer represents attractive value for Zentiva's shareholders, particularly in light of the current market turbulence," Zentiva's chief executive Jiri Michal said in a statement.

Michal also said he would tender his 3.4 percent stake in the group, along with other company managers holding 2.3 percent. As part of the deal, Michal will stay on as Zentiva's CEO.

Zentiva had been at the centre of competing takeover bids since May, when the drugmaker's second-largest shareholder, Czech financial group PPF, said it would bid 950 crowns per share.

The move prompted Sanofi, the largest shareholder with a 24.9 percent stake, to launch its own 1,050 crown a share bid in July.

Zentiva said the latest bid represents a 25.5 percent premium over its closing price of 916.6 crowns on April 30, the last trading day before PPF announced its bid intention.

The bid is conditional on gaining more than 50 percent of Zentiva, along with competition clearance.

Sanofi, whose top selling drugs include blood thinner Plavix and anti-thrombotic Lovenox, has already won approval in Russia and Ukraine, and is awaiting clearance from the European Union and Turkey.

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