FluMist Maker MedImmune
Mulls Sale of the Company
By KEVIN KINGSBURY
April 12, 2007 9:28 a.m.
MedImmune Inc. became the latest company this week to announce it will explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the biotechnology firm.
Last week, shareholder Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. reiterated its call for selling the Gaithersburg, Md., company, which makes the nasal-spray flu vaccine FluMist, noting its "exploitable properties" such as the recent licensing of its reverse-genetics technology to a Sanofi-Aventis unit.
Speculation of a possible MedImmune sale has increased since billionaire investor Carl Icahn's money-management group disclosed a stake in the company.
Matrix has sent a series of open letters calling for MedImmune's sale, but the company has maintained that the best way to maximize shareholder value is to "aggressively implement its business plan."
MedImmune said Thursday it "has frequently" considered its strategic alternatives and will do so again in light of "indications of interest by major pharmaceutical companies," coupled with some shareholders' dissatisfaction with the firm's recent stock price.
The company said it will have no further public comment on the matter until the review process is finished. Then, it will either say it has agreed to be acquired or will continue to execute its business plan.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Dewey Ballantine LLP will assist MedImmune in the review process. |
