Speciality drugmaker Bioglan Pharma is in talks to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb's skin products business for about $700 million.
The deal would transform it into one of the world's top dermatology firms, an industry source said today.
The debt-financed cash deal is likely to be signed by mid-August with Bioglan, which is quoted on the Irish Stock Exchange, paying about one-third of the purchase price on completion and the balance over several years, the source said.
Bioglan, which floated on the London market in 1998 and has grown rapidly via 50 smaller deals, said it was in talks but did not name the company involved.
"Bioglan confirms that it is in negotiations with a global pharmaceutical company to secure a portfolio of established dermatological products which generated worldwide revenues of approximately $240 million in 2000," the company said in a statement responding to a Financial Timesreport.
Bioglan had sales in the year to January 2001 of £100.6 million sterling, and the Bristol-Myers product range would increase this by over 150 per cent, propelling Bioglan into the top five league of global dermatology companies.
Chief executive Mr Terry Sadler and his fellow directors said the deal would be consistent with a strategy of acquiring products and businesses offering scope for strong growth, with the focus on existing therapeutic areas of dermatology and pain control.
Shares in Bioglan, which hit a high of 950p in February 2000 before sliding as biotechnology stocks deflated, rose 4 per cent to 431.5p in early dealings, valuing the group at £402 million.