MedImmune is off the market.
Following months of prodding by its prominent shareholders, Gaithersburg-based MedImmune Inc. announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca PLC. Under the terms of the deal, AstraZeneca will purchase MedImmune for about $15.6 billion, or $58 per share. Two weeks ago, the local drug and vaccine company released information that its board of directors had hired Goldman Sachs, a global investment banker, to help the business find its best possible suitor.
On Monday, Goldman Sachs delivered.
“We think that ultimately the MedImmune board of directors and Goldman Sachs did a terrific job selling the business and garnered a full and fair price for the company,” said David A. Katz, chief investment officer of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc., a New York-based firm.
Since December, The Examiner has followed Katz?s urging on behalf of the investors he represents at Matrix. Sending letters to the MedImmune board of directors, said he believed that the best way for his investors to maximize their stocks? value was for the board to sell the company. According to earlier correspondence from Katz, he and other stakeholders thought that shares of MedImmune would be primed for sale at around $40-$45 per share. As of Monday, when the deal was confirmed prior to the stock market opening, shares of MedImmune were valued at around $48. Late Monday afternoon, the stock was trading at $56.65 per share, up $8.65 for the day.
Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will be paid nearly $58 per share ? a value Katz believed was in line with MedImmune?s value.
“This seems like a very solid deal, and Goldman Sachs is a premier investment banker, and we are convinced that they have a rock-solid agreement,” Katz said.
As for the future of the company, MedImmune?s board Chairman and founder Wayne Hockmeyer told The Associated Press that the “vast majority” of MedImmune?s 2,500 employees in the United States, Britain andthe Netherlands would retain their jobs. Hockmeyer also rejected claims that the sale was the direct result of shareholder pressure.
“That clearly wasn?t a factor,” he told the AP. “In fact, what [the sale] really shows is the management team here has done a fantastic job of creating remarkable value for shareholders.”
