BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Simcere deal

September 2, 2013 7:00 AM UTC

Simcere said it is going private in a deal in which Chairman Jinsheng Ren and Assure Ahead Investments Ltd. will acquire all of the Simcere shares they do not already own for $4.83 per share in cash or $9.66 per ADS. Ren and Assure own a 55.5% stake in Simcere, or about 62 million shares. The deal values Simcere at about $539.4 million based on about 111.7 million shares outstanding on Aug. 28. The price is a 21% premium to Simcere's close of $7.96 on March 8, before Simcere disclosed that Jinsheng Ren and Assure made a non-binding proposal to acquire the company for $4.78 per share or $9.56 per ADS. The deal is subject to shareholder approval but has been approved by Simcere's board and is expected to close by year end. Shearman & Sterling is Simcere's legal counsel, and UBS is the company's financial advisor. Simcere formed a special committee of independent directors to consider the proposal. Maples and Calder is the committee's legal advisor, and Davis, Polk & Wardwell is UBS' legal advisor. Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton acted as legal counsel to Jinsheng Ren and Assure (see BioCentury, April 8 & March 18). ...