CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. to repurchase $1 billion of Genzyme common stock under an accelerated stock repurchase program. Proceeds from its recently concluded debt offering will be used to support this first tranche of Genzyme’s overall $2 billion share repurchase plan announced in May.
“Our stock repurchase program is part of a comprehensive five-point plan to increase shareholder value,” said Henri Termeer, Genzyme’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This balanced plan also includes long-term drivers of sustainable growth, such as a focus on core businesses and executing on our important late-stage pipeline, while improving operating margins.”
Under the agreement, Genzyme is scheduled to pay $1 billion to Goldman, Sachs & Co. on June 22, 2010 and receive approximately 15.5 million shares, currently estimated to be approximately 80 percent of the shares to be repurchased based on the closing share price on June 17, 2010.
The total number of shares ultimately repurchased under the agreement will be determined upon final settlement. Genzyme will either receive additional shares of common stock or, under certain circumstances, be required to remit a settlement amount, payable, at Genzyme’s option, in cash or common stock, based generally on the volume-weighted average share price of Genzyme’s common stock during a period of up to four months, as stated in the agreement.
Genzyme worked with Goldman, Sachs & Co. and an affiliate of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC in structuring the accelerated stock repurchase program.
About Genzyme
One of the world’s leading biotechnology companies, Genzyme is dedicated to making a major positive impact on the lives of people with serious diseases. Since 1981, the company has grown from a small start-up to a diversified enterprise with more than 12,000 employees in locations spanning the globe and 2009 revenues of $4.5 billion. In 2010, Genzyme was named to the Fortune 500.
With many established products and services helping patients in approximately 100 countries, Genzyme is a leader in the effort to develop and apply the most advanced technologies in the life sciences. The company’s products and services are focused on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease, orthopaedics, cancer, transplant and immune disease. Genzyme’s commitment to innovation continues today with a substantial development program focused on these fields, as well as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and other areas of unmet medical need.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the share repurchase plan and accelerated stock repurchase program, including the number of shares to be repurchased, expected timing and duration, the amount of capital that may be expended and the treatment of repurchased shares, all of which may be subject to change in the future. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the price of the company’s common stock, the ability of Goldman, Sachs & Co. to borrow and buy shares of the company’s common stock, and the risks and uncertainties described in Genzyme’s SEC reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including the factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Genzyme’s Amended Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 and in Genzyme’s other filings it makes with the SEC. Genzyme cautions investors not to place substantial reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. These statements speak only as of today’s date and Genzyme undertakes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.
Genzyme’s press releases and other company information are available at www.genzyme.com and by calling Genzyme’s investor information line at 1-800-905-4369 within the United States or 1-678-999-4572 outside the United States.
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Contacts Genzyme Corporation Media Contact: John Lacey, 617-768-6690 john.lacey@genzyme.com or Investor Contact: Emily Merchant, 617-768-6140 emily.merchant@genzyme.com
