Javelin, Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Hospira deal

Javelin said it planned to terminate a merger agreement with Myriad after receiving a "superior" acquisition proposal from Hospira. Hospira plans to acquire all outstanding shares of Javelin for $2.20 per share in cash, or about $142 million based on 64.4 million shares outstanding on March 4. The price is a 64% premium to Javelin's close of $1.34 on April 9, before the deal was proposed. Hospira also will provide Javelin with a working capital facility of up to $4.5 million, plus $8.3 million to repay principal and interest under a similar arrangement with Myriad and $4.4 million to cover a merger termination fee and other expenses.

Under Myriad's December proposal, Javelin shareholders would have received 0.282 Myriad shares for every Javelin share held, or about 18.2 million Myriad shares. Those shares were valued at about $96 million based on Myriad's Dec. 17 close of $5.33. The deal would now be valued at about $82.2 million, based on Myriad's April 9 close of $4.53 (see BioCentury, Dec. 21, 2009). ...