Poederproject Pharmaceuticals, the British vaccine maker is planning to reject as "opportunistic" a £455 million sterling (€724 million) indicative bid from US rival Chiron Corporation. The Oxford-based company, the world's largest independent vaccine maker, is expected to confirm this morning it received an approach.
A string of negative news, which includes PowderJect's recent loss of contracts to supply BCG vaccines to Ireland and Britain wiping off £5 million sterling of this year's expected profits, has pushed its share price to four-year lows in recent weeks.
PowderJect is said to have received overtures from a number of potential industry buyers which, like Chiron, are flush with cash and looking to make acquisitions to boost earnings.
A person familiar with the talks said: "PowderJect is not for sale. The board is not likely to recommend this offer because it is looks like an opportunistic attempt to buy the company at a low price."
The shares, which reached a high of 603p this spring, closed down 2½p on Friday at 255p, valuing the business at £232.2 million. The approach comes as PowderJect prepares to report interim results in three weeks which will show it has secured most of £20 million of forecast pre-tax profits for the year to March 31st. - (Financial Times Service)
