Protherics buyout creates UK's biggest biotech

BTG is buying out Protherics for $388 million in a merger deal that will create the UK's biggest biotech company. In the all-stock buyout, Protherics' shareholders will receive 0.291 new BTG shares for each of their Protherics shares. That gives them a 45 percent premium over the stock's September 17 close. The deal follows a string of biotech buyouts in the UK by Big Pharma companies out to beef up their pipelines. The industry has been steadily consolidating in the face of some severe market skepticism of the industry's high-risk profile.

PharmaTimes notes that a number of analysts had expected AstraZeneca, one of Protherics' partners, to buy the company. Protherics had noted earlier that it had received a number of buyout inquiries.

"The merger of Protherics and BTG will create one of the UK's leading biopharmaceutical companies," said Dr John Brown, the chairman of BTG. "We will have a valuable portfolio of licensed and marketed products, a pipeline of mid to late stage programs in clinical development, and the cash resources and development expertise to progress the combined pipeline."

- here's the release (.pdf)
- read the article from PharmaTimes

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Protherics shares soar on $338M licensing pact (Dec. 2005)