It has thus far refused four £9 offers from Swedish investment firm EQT, which is said to be looking at Oxford BioMedica plc (LON: OXB) again now that shares are below 500p.
But now AstraZeneca (LON: AZN) is also looking to pounce at up to £10 plus. This is also the case for other private equity groups, Advent and Carlyle. So this could be a very competitive process/auction.
Private Equity Target
OXB has been in the usual frame of many leading companies, a target for private equity companies. They are of course always looking for a bargain. With the shares currently far less than their 950p plus peak set in January at the time of the EQT offer. This should be seen as the benchmark for any offer, given that the company has so far rejected all comers.
What should also be considered is that if there is value in the company for private equity, there is even more value for listed peers such as AstraZeneca (AZN). Indeed, an explanation for OXB playing hardball is that it would probably prefer a peer such as AZN to get into bed with rather than generic money men looking to extract every penny from the company and make a fast buck.
Having seen off EQT at double the share price in January, fresh interest has emerged, according to City bankers – likely to be announced imminently, given the lowly share price.
Advisors
Advisors involved are Evercore Partners, Jefferies Internation, and Goldmans.
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