MedImmune, Inc. (MEDI-NASDAQ) announced that its board of directors has authorized management to evaluate whether third parties would have an interest in acquiring the company at a price and on terms that would represent a better value for its stockholders than having the company continue to execute its business plan on a stand-alone basis.
As of February of this year, the board re-affirmed, and the company publicly disclosed, the board’s belief that the best way for the company to maximize value for its stockholders is to aggressively implement its business plan. However, indications of interest by major pharmaceutical companies, coupled with recent expressions by certain stockholders of dissatisfaction with the company’s short-term stock price performance, have led the board to authorize management to gather information regarding possible strategic interest in acquiring the company.
MedImmune has hired Goldman Sachs & Co. and Dewey Ballantine LLP to assist in the process, which it says is well underway. It is also saying that it will not publicly disclose further information regarding the status of its evaluation until the process has been completed.
If you will recall, that the January 5, 2007 version of Business Week noted in an article that MEDI could fetch $45.00 in a takeover offer (our morning summary here). This morning shares are up 8% on more than 4 million shares to what will be a new year high; the prior 52-week range was $24.87 to $38.34. This one used to trade over $60.00 per share back in 2000 and has bee trading between $20.00 to $40.00 for the last 4 years. As of yesterday’s close it had a market cap of $9 Billion.
Here is what a buyer would get as far as products and here is what a buyer would be locking down as far as a R&D pipeline. Here is what it already has as far as R&D Collaborations.
Jon C. Ogg
April 12, 2007
Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks