Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Roche faces further delay in $4.3 bn Spark deal amid FTC review

1203299
1203299
minus
plus

ZURICH: Roche announced another extension of its $4.3 billion offer for gene therapy specialist Spark Therapeutics, this time until June 3, saying a review by US authorities is taking longer than originally expected.


The Swiss drugmaker said all terms and conditions will remain unchanged during the extended period. Roche earlier this month had extended its offer until May 2, but said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) needed even more time to complete its review.


“The review of the transaction is ongoing, and the parties are actively working with the government to facilitate that process,” Roche said. “In order to provide the government with additional time to complete its current review, Roche has elected to withdraw and refile the premerger notification and report form.” A Roche spokeswoman said the company still expects the deal to be completed in the first half of 2019. Roche said that as of Thursday, 26.1 per cent of Spark’s outstanding shares had been tendered in the offer. That is less than the 29.4 per cent of Spark shares that had been tendered on April 2, before the Swiss company announced the previous extension of the offer.


Roche said shareholders are free to tender their shares or withdraw them until the offer has closed.


Spark faces several lawsuits in the United States brought by shareholders challenging the sale to Roche, on grounds that it undervalues Spark’s stock and is unfair to shareholders. Roche has declined to comment on the lawsuits.


Roche is buying Spark, which has one treatment against blindness on the market and others including for haemophilia A in development, amid an industry-wide push into gene therapy that has also included deals by rivals Novartis and Pfizer. — Reuters


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon