Cypress Bioscience Inc (CYPB)

[eastunder]

Cypress Surges After Ramius Boosts Buyout Offer 29 Percent to $212 Million

By Meg Tirrell - Dec 10, 2010 8:09 AM MT

Cypress Bioscience Inc. gained the most in almost five months in Nasdaq trading after Ramius LLC increased its offer to buy the company by 29 percent, to $5.50 a share.

Shares of Cypress, based in San Diego, surged 20 percent, or 82 cents, to $4.88 at 10:00 a.m. New York time, after earlier reaching $5.24 for the biggest intraday gain since July 19. The stock had increased 30 percent this year before today.

The offer values Cypress at about $212 million based on 38.6 million shares outstanding as of Nov. 5, according to Bloomberg data. Ramius, a closely held investment adviser based in New York, owns 9.9 percent of Cypress already, and said in a statement today that it initially offered to buy Cypress for $4 a share in cash in July. The $5.50 offer represents a 120 percent premium over Cypress’s closing price on July 16, the last day of trading before Ramius’s interest was made public.

Ramius increased its bid to $4.25 and went directly to Cypress shareholders in September with a tender offer, which was set to expire today, the company said. The raised bid is conditional to Cypress starting exclusive negotiations today and starting a definitive merger agreement by Dec. 12, Ramius said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meg Tirrell in New York at [e-mail].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at [e-mail].