Abzena rose 142% following news it is to be acquired by Astro Bidco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, one of the world’s foremost healthcare equity firms.
Company shareholders will be entitled to 16p for each share of Abzena they own, a premium of around 167% over the trading price at the time the announcement was released. According to Abzena officials, around 75% of shareholders are supportive of the deal.
John Burt, chief executive of Abzena, said: “We are pleased to have attracted the long-term support of a specialist investor of the calibre of WCAS. WCAS will provide us with immediate working capital for the business, followed by additional investment, post completion that will enable us to scale up the business and fund further development. We look forward to working with the WCAS team to continue to capitalise on the growing market opportunity for Abzena.”
Brian Regan, general partner with WCAS, agreed, saying: “WCAS has a long history of investing in market leading companies in life sciences. Abzena has grown significantly in recent years and has an excellent reputation as a pharmaceutical services organization. We look forward to partnering with the Abzena team and investing to add further capabilities and scale in order to allow Abzena to realize its potential as a WCAS portfolio company.”
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Peel Hunt LLP and N+1 Singer LLP are serving as advisors on the deal, which is worth around £34.4 million ($43.7 million).
Date: August 20, 2018
Source: The Pharma Letter
