Drugmaker SOBI soars on $8 bln bid from Advent and Singapore's GIC

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (SOBI) said it had received a bid from U.S. private equity firm Advent International and an investment vehicle of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, valuing it at some 69.4 billion Swedish crowns ($8 billion). "Our models indicate a potential value of well over 300 Swedish crowns per share," the investment bank said.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (SOBI) said it had received a bid from U.S. private equity firm Advent International and an investment vehicle of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, valuing it at some 69.4 billion Swedish crowns ($8 billion). SOBI's stock, already up 15% so far this year, soared 24.6% to 239 crowns reflecting the possibility of a higher bid after news of the 235 crowns per share offer, which the rare disease drugmaker said represented a premium of 34.5% to its Aug. 25 closing price of 174.70 crowns.

Investor AB and Fjärde AP-Fonden, with SOBI stakes of about 36.45% and 6.96% respectively, have separately agreed to accept the offer, SOBI said. SOBI said that its board had unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer from Advent and Aurora, which is a nominated investment vehicle of GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore's GIC Pte Ltd.

Pareto Securities said in a morning briefing that the bid was too low. "Our models indicate a potential value of well over 300 Swedish crowns per share," the investment bank said. SOBI, which sells drugs within haemophilia, autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases and cancer supportive care, said that Danske Bank had said the offer was "fair to SOBI's shareholders from a financial point of view".

"The board believes that the terms of the offer recognise SOBI's long-term growth prospects, as well as the risks associated with those prospects, and provide certainty, in cash, to shareholders," SOBI said in a statement. Its best-selling drug, established haemophilia A treatment Elocta, with 4.6 billion crowns in 2020 revenues, is facing competition from Roche's Hemlibra.

SOBI's drug development prospects have improved with positive trial results of its pegcetacoplan drug against rare blood disorders PNH and of nirsevimab, in which Sanofi and AstraZeneca hold certain rights, to prevent a common respiratory infection in infants. SOBI, which employs around 1,500 people worldwide and had revenues of 15.3 billion Swedish crowns in 2020, has suffered from weakened demand for its drugs as healthcare has focused on COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Europe's medicines regulator is evaluating SOBI's arthritis drug Kineret, with the active substance anakinra, for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults with pneumonia who are at risk of severe respiratory failure. ($1=8.6178 Swedish crowns)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)