In naming a new CFO, Bristol-Myers Squibb lands a deal-maker who could renew speculation that the US pharma company is ready to sit down at the negotiating table. The question remains whether Bristol will be the hunter or hunted? 

New CFO, Jean-Marc Huet, previously served in the same job at Dutch infant nutritional company Royal Numico N.V., where he is credited with putting together its acquisitions strategy and ultimately its sale to Groupe Danone. This was the one salient credential highlighted by the company in its news release about the management change.

It was about a year ago that the drugs market was all atwitter with talk about a possible Sanofi-Britsol deal while Bristol-Myers was dealing with generic competition from Apotex to its blockbluster blot clot preventer Plavix. When the Plavix sales started regaining traction later in the year, talk of a merger died off.

Huet’s M&A experience would fit well with that of Chief Executive James Cornelius (pictured above), who took the top spot last April. Cornelius had been chairman of medical device maker Guidant, and spearheaded its sale for $27 billion to Boston Scientific Corp just months before assuming his interim leadership role at Bristol.

Bristol-Myers saw some divestment activity in December, announcing plans to sell its medical imaging business for $525 million to a private equity group as part of an effort to focus on its higher-profit prescription medicines, and has embarked on a major restructuring that will eliminate 10 percent of its work force and close more than half its factories over the next three years.

But the stock is not far from its year low of 21.75, hit at the end of January, and more than 70 percent off its October 1999 peak of $79.25. So, notwithstanding upbeat comment from analysts about its restructuring efforts, investors could get antsy.