Swedish Biotech Sobi Accepts Buyout Offer From Advent and GIC
Global biotechnology firm Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) has agreed to a buyout offer from Advent International and Aurora Investment Pte Ltd., an affiliate of GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd.
The company announced yesterday that it had received the $8 billion (68 billion kronor) offer, which valued its shares at SEK 235 each.
The purchase price is 35% higher than Sobi’s share closing rate on August 25, which was one day before Advent announced its plans to purchase the Nordic company. Sobi’s board of directors had previously given a positive opinion on the deal, which Advent offered alongside Singaporean wealth fund GIC (through its investment vehicle Aurora Investment), saying that it found the offer to be financially fair.
In a statement explaining its opinion, the Sobi board stated that they tasked Danske Bank to carefully study the deal’s merits based on historical data and financial forecasts, recommendations made in equity analysts’ research reports, trends in SOBI’s trading volumes and share prices and related information.
The board sought to clarify that this opinion was not equivalent to a recommendation on whether Sobi shareholders should accept the deal and that it was still up to the latter to decide. Meanwhile, the Swedish firm’s biggest investor, the Wallenberg family, who controls 35 percent of the firm, had approved the proposal, adding that the proceeds could be used to boost investment in other companies.
The acceptance period for the offer is expected to begin September 22 and allow the companies approximately one month to sort out the details. If the deal pushes through, it would be the largest takeover of a Swedish firm in over five years.
Completion of the offer is contingent upon a number of variables, including that Agnafit Bidco AB, which is indirectly owned by Advent, would control more than 90% of the total number of shares in Sobi, and various government and regulatory clearances.
Sobi sells medications for autoimmune disease, hemophilia, metabolic disorders and cancer supportive care — all of which are rare disorders that have no definite treatments. The company employs around 1,500 people across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Russia.
The April to June 2021 quarter reported a 5% rise in total revenue to SEK 3,211 million. Hematology sales were up by 12%, while immunology sales grew by 46%.
The biotech has been active beyond rare diseases recently after submitting a new drug for consideration in the treatment of COVID-19. In July, Sobi sent Kineret (anakinra) for European Medicines Agency (EMA) consideration as a therapy for adult patients with pneumonia who are at high risk of severe respiratory failure. Kineret has been approved in the EU since March 2002 as an immunosuppressant for various inflammatory diseases. Results in the COVID-19 indication are expected to come out in October.
Positive data has been reported on Kineret so far, as per an article published in Nature Medicine on the Phase III SAVE-MORE study, which evaluates the drug's effectiveness along with the standard of care (SOC) in patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Sobi is conducting this study with the Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis.