Royalty Pharma may up Elan bid
Royalty Pharma (New York, N.Y.) said it may increase its offer to acquire Elan Corp. plc (NYSE:ELN) to up to $12 per share in cash from $11. The exact price will be $11-$12 and will depend on the price that Elan pays to acquire stock under a $1 billion share repurchase plan. Elan proposed to purchase shares at $11.25-$13 under the plan, which shareholders approved this month. Earlier this month, Elan said the Irish Takeover Panel ruled that Royalty Pharma has until May 10 to announce a "credible" offer to acquire Elan or announce that it will not proceed with the offer. A $12 price would value Elan at about $7.2 billion. Royalty Pharma's original $11 offer values Elan at about $6.6 billion.
A $12 price would be a 13% premium to Elan's close of $10.60 on Feb. 22, before Royalty Pharma made public its proposal to acquire Elan, and a 15% premium to Elan's close of $10.46 on Feb. 5, the day before Elan and partner Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) said Biogen will pay Elan $3.3 billion in cash to acquire full rights and IP for multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri natalizumab (see BioCentury, March 4). ...