Ligand acquiring Vernalis
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) will acquire structured-based drug discovery company Vernalis plc (LSE:VER) for 6.2p per share in cash in a deal the companies say value Vernalis at £32.7 million ($43 million). The price is a 45% premium to Vernalis' close of 4.3p on March 14, before the board announced it was seeking offers for the company, and a 23% premium to Vernalis' close of 5p on Aug. 8 before the Ligand offer was announced.
Ligand will obtain more than eight fully funded partnered programs, a compound library, and additional early stage unpartnered programs in areas including cancer, respiratory and CNS. Ligand will also gain a 70-person R&D team based in Cambridge, England. Ligand said that the U.K.-based operations will allow it to more efficiently pursue investment and acquisition opportunities in the EU and U.K...