uniQure to acquire Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics business

Netherlands-based human gene based therapies developer Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (Euronext: AMT) says its board of directors is recommending a substantial corporate restructuring and financing transaction which, if approved by shareholders, will result in the assets and certain liabilities being acquired by a newly-formed private company, uniQure BV, and the AMT legal entity being liquidated and delisted.

This transaction, says AMT, will: support the future funding of AMT’s current gene therapy development pipeline; reduce operating costs; and enable disposal of current loan note obligations. Consequently, management believes the uniQure transaction will allow AMT’s shareholders to benefit from the future potential value in the business. This includes, if successful, completion of the ongoing collaboration discussions for the hemophilia B program and further collaborations on the GDNF program.

AMT has entered into a definitive agreement with Amsterdam-based uniQure to acquire the assets and certain liabilities of AMT in return for unlisted uniQure depositary receipts (DRs), which may be exchangeable for uniQure shares as described further below. There is no cash component to the consideration. The disposal of the company’s programs, assets and certain liabilities has been unanimously approved by the board of supervisory directors, which recommends that AMT shareholders adopt the resolution at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on March 30, 2012.