Cephalon launches A$225 million bid for Australia's ChemGenex

In a second acquisition move this month, the USA’s Cephalon (Nasdaq: CEPH) says it intends to make a takeover bid for Australian hematology-focused company ChemGenex, for around A$225 million ($231 million). The offer has the unanimous support of the ChemGenex directors who will recommend it to shareholders in the absence of a superior bid for the firm.

The total offer value for ChemGenex shares and listed ChemGenex options that Cephalon does not own is approximately A$159 million ($163 million). Cephalon intends to fund the transaction consideration from its available cash on hand.

Just a few days earlier, Cephalon signed merger agreement to acquire privately held Pennsylvania, USA-based Gemin X Pharmaceuticals, which is developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics, for $225 million cash on a cash-free, debt-free basis, plus achievement milestones that could take the total to $300 million (The Pharma Letter March 22).