BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Royalty says Elan bid may lapse

June 14, 2013 12:22 AM UTC

Royalty Pharma (New York, N.Y.) said its offer to acquire Elan Corp. plc (NYSE:ELN) may lapse based on preliminary voting results from Elan shareholders. Royalty is offering to buy Elan for $13 per share in cash plus a contingent value right (CVR) worth up to $2.50, valuing Elan at up to $7.9 billion. The offer is contingent on Elan shareholders rejecting four of Elan's proposed transactions at a June 17 meeting, but Royalty said that based on the votes as of Wednesday one of the transactions -- Elan's proposal to repurchase $200 million in shares under a new buyback program -- will be approved.

Royalty is seeking permission from the Irish Takeover Panel to make its offer contingent on Elan shareholders rejecting only two of the deals: the acquisition of rare disease company AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG (Vienna, Austria) for EUR 175.7 million ($231.8 million) in cash and EUR 78.8 million ($104 million) in Elan shares, and Elan's proposal to pay Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ:THRX) $1 billion for a 21% interest in royalties Theravance is eligible to receive from partner GlaxoSmithKline plc (NSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) for four respiratory programs (see BioCentury, May 27). ...