The Pharmaceutical sector has been relatively slow on the M&A front this year. U.S. investors seem content to sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen, such as the rumored takeover of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) by Pfizer. (NYSE: PFE) Only 43 deals have been announced through June 9, down nearly 47% compared with the same time last year. Then the Chinese investors arrived.
On June 8th, 2017, SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN), a specialty pharmaceutical company that provides therapies for oncology, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular disorders, was purchased in a going-private transaction by a consortium of buyers. The consortium consists of entities affiliated with GL Capital Management GP Limited, Bank of China Group Investment Limited, CDH Investments, Ascendent Capital Partners and Boying.
Under the terms of the agreement, the buyer group will acquire all outstanding shares of SciClone for $11.18 per share in cash, representing a premium of 11% over SciClone’s closing stock price on June 7, 2017, for a total of $605 million. The transaction will be funded through a combination of equity financing and debt financing, and works out to 15.50x EBITDA and 3.63x revenue.
