Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Roche to Acquire Canada's Arius Research for C$191M

[The nominal buyout premium is 15%, but this number is misleading inasmuch as Arius announced in May 2008 that it was being pursued by an unnamed suitor.]

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCAN2345414420080723

›Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:56am EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - Roche on Wednesday said it planned to buy Canada's Arius Research Inc (ARI.TO) for C$191 million ($189.3 million), strengthening the international health-care company's portfolio of cancer treatments.

The Swiss-based company said it would pay C$2.44 a share for Arius, a 14.5 percent premium over its closing price of C$2.13 on Tuesday. Roche will also acquire all of the outstanding warrants of Arius.

Shareholders and warrant holders representing 54.3 percent of the outstanding shares and 72.3 percent of outstanding warrants have already agreed to support the transaction.

The deal, anticipated since mid-May when the company said it had been approached by a third party, gives Roche access to Arius's FunctionFirst technology used to select and identify antibodies.

Roche said it would initially use the technology to concentrate on the areas of oncology and inflammatory diseases where it has targeted therapeutic applications.

The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, is subject to shareholder and warrant holder approval as well as Canadian court approval.

($1=$1.01 Canadian)‹