Anyone who bought for more than $22 wasn't paying attention. Here's the DJ version:
Ligand, Allergan Buyout Allergan
Ligand
Dow Jones Newswires
SAN DIEGO -- Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND)
and Allergan Inc. (AGN) exercised their options to buy
out public shareholders in their Allergan Ligand Retinoid
Therapeutics Inc. (ALRI) venture, giving each company
exclusive rights to certain compounds and technology
developed in the partnership.
In a press release Wednesday, Ligand said it will exercise
its right to buy all the venture's callable common shares for
$21.97 each in cash and stock, or $71.4 million. Allergan
will then pay Ligand $8.9 million in cash to exercise its
option to take a 50% interest in the assets and
technologies of Allergan Ligand Retinoid Therapeutics.
Ligand and Allergan will each take undisclosed charges
related to exercising their options under the partnership,
which came public in 1994.
Ligend said that together with Allergan it will restructure
the terms and conditions relating to research, development,
commercialization and sublicense rights for Allergan
Ligand Retinoid in the period following the close of the
options exercise.
Shares of the venture closed Wednesday at $19.44.
Ligand said it will exercise the option with a combination
of at least $25.0 million cash and as much as $46.4 million
in shares. The company will file to register a number of its
common shares sufficient to excercise the stock option.
Ligand said after the close, it will divide any net cash from
Allergan Ligand Retinoid with Allergan. Allergan Ligand
Retinoid reported cash and equivalents of $31.7 million at
the end of the second quarter.
Allergan Ligand Retinoid, formed in 1994 as joint venture
of Ligand and Allergan, develops drugs based on
retinoids.
Allergan, Irvine, Calif., manufactures and distributes
surgical products including products for small-incision
cataract surgery.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals develops gene transcription
technology.
Ligand said each company received exclusive rights to
various Allergan Ligand Retinoid compounds and each
party will pay royalties to the other on net sales of its
respective compounds.
Compounds allocated to Ligand include ALRT 268,
ALRT 324, ALRT 1550, and Oral and Topical Panretin.
Compounds allocated to Allergan include ALRT 4310,
ALRT 326 and ALRT 4204.
Ligand said it will participate in a lottery with Allergan for
each of the other 2,000 retinoid compounds existing in
Allergan Ligand Retinoid's library. |
