AstraZeneca scuppers planned $8 billion takeover of Sobi

6 December 2021

Shares of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (STO: SOBI), also known as Sobi, slumped 24.3% to 171.50 Swedish kronor on Friday, after Advent International Corp and Aurora Investment, an affiliate of Singapore’s GIC Pte (through Agnafit Bidco) said they were pulling out of their around 69.4 billion kronor (~$8.0 billion) offer to acquire the biotech company in September this year, which Sobi’s directors recommended.

Advent, GIC and Sobi needed the support of 90% of shareholders to close the deal. However, UK pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) revealed that it was withholding its 8% stake from the buyout offer. This was followed by other investors also withholding their stakes, thus scuppering the deal.

Board of directors remains fully committed to Sobi and Sobi’s strategy

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