Royalty ends hostile bid for Elan

Royalty Pharma (New York, N.Y.) withdrew a request for judicial review of a decision by the Irish Takeover Panel regarding its offer to acquire Elan Corp. plc (NYSE:ELN), ending a four-month public spat between the companies. Royalty was seeking to acquire Elan for $13 per share in cash plus a contingent value right (CVR) worth up to $2.50, which would have valued Elan at up to $7.9 billion. Royalty's decision officially ends its hostile bid to acquire Elan, though Elan on Friday announced a formal sales process and said its financial advisors contacted Royalty's financial advisors to invite Royalty to participate in the process.

On Monday, Royalty's bid for Elan lapsed after Elan shareholders approved the biotech's proposal to repurchase $200 million in shares; shareholders rejected three other proposals from Elan. Royalty was seeking to make its offer contingent on Elan shareholders rejecting only two proposals: the acquisition of rare disease company AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG (Vienna, Austria); 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. The Irish High Court was scheduled to start proceedings on Wednesday to review the decision by the Irish Takeover Panel that Royalty's offer remained contingent on Elan shareholders rejecting all four deals, including the share buyback (see BioCentury Extra, June 17). ...