Roche extends offer period in $4.3bn Spark takeover
Switzerland’s Roche has been forced to extend the its $4.3bn offer for gene specialist Spark Therapeutics as US regulators continue to scrutinise the proposed takeover.
Roche
Fr.238.00
18:56 19/04/24
SPARK THERAPEUTICS
$0.00
14:25 11/03/24
The biotech giant now expects to refile its premerger notice on 23 May, “to provide the government with additional time to complete its current review”. As a result, the offer period has also been pushed back, to 14 June from 3 June.
In a statement, Basel-based Roche said: “The regulatory review of the transaction is ongoing, and the parties are actively working with the government to facilitate that process.”
This is not the first time the offer period has had to be extended, as Roche looks to win over both regulators and shareholders. Roche’s $114.50 per share offer for Philadelphia-based Spark was first announced in February, with an April deadline, but that was extended to early May after the US Federal Trade Commission review took longer than expected.
Gene therapy is a seen as an especially promising area and has attracted the interest of many big pharmaceutical companies. Roche’s offer for the loss-making company was more than double Spark’s closing price on 22 February.