Abcam pulls out of pursuit for Horizon Discovery

Abcam has decided not to make a takeover offer for Horizon Discovery after the latter's results a day earlier were accompanied by further protestations about its rival's recent initial approach.

Last week Horizon's board rejected an unsolicited proposed 181p per share offer from its fellow AIM-listed company and this Tuesday published preliminary results for 2017 showing it had broken into the black at the EBITDA level and promoted Terry Pizzie from commercial chief to CEO. Horizon also put out a statement noting that Abcam's proposal valued its shares at a multiple of four times revenue, while the median multiple for its "key peers" was more than eight times.

On Wednesday, having considered results and the statement from Horizon's board last week that it saw "little strategic rationale for combining the two companies", Abcam confirmed it does not intend to make an offer for Horizon unless certain circumstances changes.