Inside Sanofi's $3.2B Translate Bio Buyout
- Before the $3.2 billion acquisition of mRNA player Translate Bio Inc TBIO 0.21% earlier this month, Sanofi SA SNY 0.21% expressed interest in selling off around 25% of its shares in the company, which it had been working with since 2018.
- Translate Bio filed SEC document to give an inside look at how the buyout negotiations played out. Translate agreed to that plan, but it didn’t last long.
- Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson reached out to Translate CEO Ron Renaud in late May, indicating that Sanofi was now interested in buying Translate outright. The initial offer came in at $28 per share.
- Translate asked its consultants to test the waters for other potential suitors as part of its due diligence on a possible deal. Feelers put out to three companies that turned up duds, with all three showing no interest in engaging.
- On June 4, Translate told Sanofi that its initial offer was “insufficient” and undervalued the company. Sanofi responded with a 55% premium offer, but Translate asked for $40 per share as a final offer.
- In response, Translate asked Sanofi an offer of $37 to $38 per share with milestones baked in to get shareholders $40 per share.
- Sanofi countered with an offer of $35 and eventually agreed to come up to $38.
- The acquisition also makes sense in Sanofi’s plans to make mRNA a centerpiece of its business plan moving ahead.
- In June 2020, Sanofi laid out $425 million in cash upfront and up to $1.9 billion in milestones payments to accelerate its partnership with Translate, signed initially in mid-2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.