By Cristina Roca
UCB SA has agreed to buy biopharmaceutical company Zogenix Inc. in a deal worth up to about $1.9 billion.
The two companies said Wednesday that UCB will launch a tender offer on all outstanding Zogenix shares for $26 a share in cash at closing.
Shares in Zogenix, which commercializes and develops therapies for rare diseases, closed at $15.64 on Tuesday.
The deal is expected to be accretive to UCB’s earnings from next year.
The companies also agreed to a contingent value right for a potential cash payment of $2 a share upon European Union approval of fintepla as an orphan medicine for treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome by the end of 2023.
Both companies’ boards have unanimously approved the transaction. Closing is expected in the second quarter of the year, and remains subject to a majority of the total number of Zogenix’s outstanding shares being tendered, as well as antitrust clearances.
Write to Cristina Roca at cristina.roca@wsj.com
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
