[ad_1]
Tobacco company and Marlboro cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International acquired British pharmaceutical company Vectura for £1 billion, which developed a pioneering inhalation therapy for Covid-19.
Philip Morris International (PMI) is bidding 1.04 billion pounds. The company is investing billions of dollars to get rid of its core tobacco business. Private equity group Carlyle invests 958 million pounds in May. Vectura’s board had recommended that shareholders accept Carlyle’s offer, but withdrew support for the offer after receiving a higher PMI offer.
Bruno Angelici, chairman of Vectura, said: “Compared with Carlyle’s offer, we recognize that the price offered to shareholders for this acquisition has increased significantly, and therefore recommended this acquisition to shareholders.”
“This acquisition will give our employees the opportunity to become the backbone of PMI’s autonomous inhalation therapy business unit, helping to develop products to improve the lives of patients and address unmet medical needs.”
On Friday morning, Vectura’s stock price rose more than 12% to 153 pence, making it the largest gainer in the FTSE 250 Index. PMI’s cash offer is 150 pence per share.
PMI, the manufacturer of the world’s most popular cigarette brand, has invested more than US$8 billion (£5.8 billion) to date to separate its business from harmful tobacco products as a “natural evolution to a broader healthcare company” Part of “Accelerating the End of Smoking”.
Last week, PMI spent US$820 million to acquire Fertin Pharma, a manufacturer of nicotine chewing gum.
Guardian Enterprise Mailbox Registration
PMI’s goal is to generate US$1 billion in revenue from products that “beyond nicotine” by 2025, and to identify respiratory drugs as a focus. Its goal is to be “mainly smoke-free” by 2025, when tobacco revenue will account for less than half of total revenue.
PMI stated that Vectura will operate as an “autonomous business unit” and become the “pillar” of PMI’s inhalation therapy business.
PMI CEO Jacek Olczak said: “The inhalation therapy market is large and growing rapidly, and there are many opportunities to meet unmet needs.” “By joining forces and investing our resources in the continued scientific excellence of our two companies, we can Acquiring key capabilities to accelerate our long-term growth in products other than nicotine is a core strategic focus of PMI.”
[ad_2]
Source link
