Lilly begins cash tender offer for ImClone Systems

Lilly has announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alaska Acquisition Corporation, has begun a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of ImClone Systems at a price of $70 (40 pounds) per share in cash.

The company states it and ImClone had previously announced they had reached a definitive agreement for a merger in which Lilly would acquire ImClone.

ImClone’s board of directors has unanimously determined that the offer and merger agreement are fair to – and are in the best interests of – the company and its shareholders.

There is no financing condition to the tender offer and it is subject to certain conditions set down in the offer to purchase – including a minimum share tender condition and other governmental approvals.

“Following the acceptance for payment of shares in the tender offer and completion of the transactions contemplated in the merger agreement, ImClone will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lilly,” the firm states.

Unless the tender offer is extended, the offer – along with any withdrawal rights to which Imclone shareholders may be entitled – will expire at 00:00 EST on November 20th.

In recent days, Lilly announced it had been recognised as one of the world’s top biopharmaceutical employers according to the peer-reviewed journal Science.