Medison Biotech: Jonathan Goodman Takes Advantage of His Own Failure to Create Value, Enriching Himself at the Expense of the Shareholders of Knight Therapeutics

July 9, 2019 |

3 min read

NCIB introduced by Knight proposes to buy back shares from shareholders at a 25% discount compared to last capital raise in 2016 of $10 per share

July 9, 2019 12:41 UTC

NCIB introduced by Knight proposes to buy back shares from shareholders at a 25% discount compared to last capital raise in 2016 of $10 per share
By doing so, Goodman admits that the last raise was excessive, a mistake and that he has no concrete plans or strategy to deploy the raised cash
This move is yet another acknowledgement of Knight’s failure following the recent admission that the $130 million committed to its “investments in funds” strategy failed

PETACH TIKVA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Medison Biotech (1995) Ltd. (“Medison”), which together with its affiliates owns more than 10.4 million shares or 7.3% of Knight Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX:GUD) (“Knight” or the “Company”), today commented on the recent disclosure by Knight that it intends to make a Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”) for up to 12,053,693 common shares of the Company, being approximately 10% of its public float.

Meir Jakobsohn, Medison CEO, said:

“Knight’s decision to buy back shares is an obvious admission of failure. Knight and Jonathan Goodman have failed to deploy capital and finally admit that their capital raise in 2016 was unnecessary. Instead of creating value for all shareholders, all Jonathan Goodman has done is enrich himself, allow conflicts to permeate the Board and management and preside over an endless string of failures.

“Be mindful that the largest beneficiary of the share repurchase program is Jonathan Goodman. Even if he does not participate, the reduction of shares at a substantial discount to last $10 per share capital raise only serves to increase his percentage control of the company. Like his conflicting interests with his family business (Pharmascience), either way he wins and shareholders lose.

“Rather than engage in financial engineering that principally benefits the CEO, why didn’t the Board consider a partial tender offer for shares at $10? Just give shareholders their money back at the price paid? It’s a fair question. But one that we fully expect the company to ignore.

“Medison has always believed in the possibility of Knight and the strategy it was founded on. It is why we invested and, when the strategy changed and the conflicts became untenable, we started our campaign for positive change – change that is still achievable.

“Medison urges Knight shareholders to continue to speak up for change, change that removes conflicts, cleans up management and creates a real business strategy that will lead to significant value creation for all Knight shareholders.

“I invite all disappointed shareholders to contact us on www.NewDayForKnight.com and even by contacting me on my direct email: Meirj@Medison.co.il.”

Medison does not intend to participate in the Knight NCIB and sell any of its shares.

Medison has maintained its website, www.NewDayForKnight.com, and encourages shareholders to visit for updates.

About Medison

Medison is one of the world’s largest commercial partners of leading global biotech companies. Medison is uniquely qualified to provide the complete spectrum of integrated services for international companies looking to enter or expand their presence in selected ROW markets (Israel, Canada and CEE markets). Medison runs a corporate venture arm with a dedicated research and evaluation team boasting deep scientific and commercial backgrounds. Medison also operates a scouting program to cater its partners and is an active investor in life science projects around drug development and digital health.