From Reuters via The Financial Post, July 9:
Tobacco group Philip Morris International agreed on Friday to buy Vectura for 1.05 billions pounds ($1.44 billion), giving the U.S. firm access to the British drugmaker’s respiratory ailment treatments and inhaling device technology.
The move by Philip Morris is the latest push by big tobacco companies to change their image following years of negative press and lawsuits for marketing and selling cigarettes, a product that health advocates and experts say continues to be a leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide.
The offer of 150 pence per share to investors in Vectura topped a previous 136 pence proposal by investment firm Carlyle Group, and was 11% higher than the drugmaker’s closing share price on Thursday.
Vectura, whose shares rose as much as 14% to 154 pence, said it was withdrawing its recommendation for Carlyle’s proposal and was adjourning a shareholder meeting it had convened on Monday.
Philip Morris aims to use Vectura’s expertise with inhalable formulations and device design to produce a range of over-the-counter and prescription-based respiratory therapies, it said in a statement.
It has set a target to generate more than 50% of its revenue from smoke-free products and at least $1 billion from products beyond nicotine by 2025 as part of its “evolution into a broader healthcare and wellness company.”....
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