Goldshield signals end of bid battle as it trumps rival offer
DRUG firm Goldshield could effectively be in the hands of its management after they increased their offer for the group yesterday and said they now have undertakings from over half of the firm.
Goldshield, which manufactures appetite suppressant drug Appesat, has been in the middle of a bitter bid battle after its executive management team gatecrashed AIT’s original offer believing it “seriously undervalued the company.” AIT, made up of the group’s former chief executive Ajit Patel and the Fuhrer family, owners of Neopharm, reacted by raising their offer.
But Midas Bidco, led by Goldshield’s executive management and financed largely by buyout firm HgCapital, is now offering 485p per share for the company, trumping AIT’s 480p offer, and said it has undertakings from 45.15 per cent of the shareholder base.
Along with about five per cent of undertakings of the share capital not to vote, the group effectively has enough now to shut out the consortium involving the company’s former chief executive.
The new offer values Goldshield at about £179m and beats the 440p per share that was first offered by AIT. The management appointed Altium and Ernst & Young as advisers.