From AP: Warner-Lambert To Acquire Agouron
Tuesday January 26 7:39 PM ET
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Warner-Lambert Co. (NYSE:WLA - news) agreed Tuesday to a $2.1 billion stock deal to buy Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:AGPH - news), giving the company control of Agouron's wildly successful AIDS product.
Under the agreement, each share of Agouron stock will be exchanged for about $60 worth of Warner-Lambert stock, providing the price is between $64.52 and $74 at the close of the deal.
Shares of Agouron closed at $56.811/4, up $3.66 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of Warner-Lambert closed up $1.621/2 to $69.121/2 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Agouron will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner-Lambert and retain its current management structure, company spokeswoman Donna Nichols said.
Agouron, a San Diego biotechnology company that develops drugs for treatment of cancer, AIDS and eye diseases, had total revenues of $467 million last year. The company has been an innovator in designing synthetic drugs that target the molecular level of disease.
Agouron's Viracept product, a protease inhibitor for people infected with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, brought in $308 million during its first full year on the market after it was introduced in March 1997.
The acquisition will allow Agouron to continue its research and development of treatments while giving it Warner-Lambert's financial muscle to get those drugs on the market, company officials said Tuesday.
''This is a carefully considered strategic move to maximize Agouron's long-term ability to bring forward new drugs for patients confronted by cancer, viral infection, and diseases of the eye and, at the same time, to contribute its scientific strengths to Warner-Lambert's efforts to discover innovative drugs in other important fields,'' Agouron President Peter Johnson said in a prepared statement.
Agouron will remain in San Diego's La Jolla headquarters, with Johnson reporting to Warner-Lambert's New Jersey headquarters. Company officials said employee cutbacks weren't immediately expected and would only involve redundant positions.
Agouron employs more than 1,000 people; about 700 are involved in research and development. Warner-Lambert employs more than 40,000 people worldwide.
The sale is subject to acceptance by Agouron shareholders and regulatory approval. |
