There’s no shortage of healthcare M&A news around today – IVF operator Virtus Health has confirmed private equity firm BGH has lobbed a $607 million takeover offer for the business.
The company has told the ASX that BGH is offering to buy 100 per cent of issued capital at $7.10 per share. The stock closed at $5.21 on Monday.
Virtus Health chief executive Kate Munnings. Credit:Louie Douvis
The Virtus board is currently reviewing the offer, telling shareholders they do not need to take any action.
Virtus, which is headed up by former Ramsay Health executive Kate Munnings, operates fertility clinics across Australia, Singapore and Ireland.
It has had a tough two years in the face of pandemic restrictions, and shares are down 4.9 per cent year-to-date.
Analyst rating changes courtesy of Bloomberg
- Altium: Cut to Hold at Bell Potter; price target of $45
- Bapcor: Cut to Neutral at Goldman; price target $6.70
- Vulcan Steel: Rated New Outperform at Forsyth Barr
Hub 24 is holding its annual general meeting today.
Looks like CSL’s big Vifor acquisition is on.
Biotech giant CSL has entered a trading halt pending an announcement of “a potential material acquisition and associated capital raising”.
So it looks like concrete news of the company’s multi-billion dollar takeover of Vifor isn’t far away.
Vifor Pharma was founded in north-west Switzerland nearly 100 years agoCredit:Switzerland Tourism
The deal, which will likely be worth upwards of $10 billion, will be CSL’s largest ever purchase if it goes through.
Vifor, a Swiss pharma giant with a focus on iron deficiency and kidney disease treatments.
The company has asked for a halt of securities until its announcement or the commencement of trading on Thursday – whichever comes first.
CSL shares closed down 0.4 per cent on Monday to $297.27.
Supermarket giant Woolworths has been forced to downgrade its projected profits for the first half of the new financial year after a $220 million cost blowout due to a swathe of COVID-related issues.
The retailer told shareholders this morning direct costs at its supermarkets division were expected to be $150 million for the six months to the end of December. These expenses relate to costs incurred in the company’s stores and supply chains to protect staff and customers from the pandemic.
Woolworths shares last traded at $40.56. They reached an all-time high of $41.99 in August.
However, an additional $60 to $70 million of ‘indirect’ costs will also be weathered by the major grocer this half, which chief executive Brad Banducci said was due to the disruption caused by the pandemic at the company’s distribution centres.
Woolworths has been forced to defer a number of planned initiatives at its warehouses that would have improved performance in its supply chain. The company has also incurred higher costs due to the record level of consumer demand, fuel price increases, and the impact of balancing its food supply across the eastern states.
Melbourne pharmacy manufacturer IDT has entered a trading halt pending an announcement about local mRNA production.
The Prime Minister and Victorian state governments have revealed this morning that US biotech Moderna would be setting up a manufacturing shop in the state.
The government has also been undertaking a local approach to market for mRNA products production, though it’s still not clear if the Moderna deal will trump this process.
IDT has gone into a trading halt ahead of an announcement about the production of vaccines in Melbourne. Credit:Getty Images
IDT had made a submission to the local approach to market.
“The company requests the trading halt in order to consider its response to a forthcoming public announcement by the Australian Government in relation to its Approach to Market: proposals to establish an onshore mRNA manufacturing capability; and Australia’s mRNA translation and manufacturing ecosystem more generally, which the Company is not in a position to announce to the market at present,” the business said in a statement to the ASX.
IDT shares are up 152 per cent year to date, closing at 48¢ on Monday.
- SPI ASX200 futures down 0.6 per cent or 41 points to 7,339 at 9am AEST
- On Wall Street the Nasdaq closed 1.4 per cent lower, while the S&P500 and Dow Jones were both down 0.9 per cent
- Australian dollar is flat at US71.31¢
- Oil prices declined overnight with Brent crude down 1.2 per cent to $US74.28 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude down 0.5 per cent to $US71.29 per barrel
- Iron Ore prices softened 1 per cent to $102.50 per tonne overnight
- Spot gold is flat at $US1,786.66 per ounce
The biggest takeover in Australian history has cleared one of its final hurdles, with proxy votes from Afterpay shareholders strongly supporting the $39 billion deal to be bought by a United States fintech giant.
On Tuesday Afterpay shareholders will hold an online meeting on whether to support the all-scrip takeover Block, which was known as Square until earlier this month.
Proxy votes in a company presentation lodged before the meeting had started showed 99.79 per cent of votes cast were supportive of the deal, 0.05 per cent were against, and 0.16 per cent were open. By number of shareholders, 86.35 per cent were in favour, 4.64 per cent were against, and 9.01 per cent were open.
Afterpay chairman Elana Rubin in November, at the company’s last annual general meeting. Credit:Arsineh Houspian
The deal is still awaiting a final regulatory approval from the Bank of Spain, but Afterpay chair Elana Rubin reiterated that both companies were confident this condition would ultimately be satisfied. Spanish regulatory approval is needed after Afterpay’s British subsidiary Clearpay bought Pagantis, which operates in Spain. Pagantis is based in Spain and regulated by Spanish authorities.
In her prepared remarks, Ms Rubin said Afterpay’s board supported the deal because it would ramp up Afterpay’s growth in the United States, including by giving it access to small merchants.
“The Board considers that while the future growth prospects of a standalone Afterpay are strong, we believe that the combination of Afterpay with Block will deliver an unprecedented opportunity for both companies,” Ms Rubin said.
While Afterpay’s share price has fallen since the takeover was announced in August, to $94.69 an independent expert report recently valued Afterpay at between $92 and $108 a share. Shareholders will receive part of a Block American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) that will be listed on the ASX. Block Inc shares closed at $US186.75 ($252.50) overnight.
In their prepared remarks, co-founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar reflected on Afterpay’s rapid growth in the last six years, and said the two companies shared the vision of “financial empowerment.“
Mr Molnar said the company had long admired Block – which is led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and the fintech’s staff.
“I’m incredibly humbled that with your support we’ll soon be joining forces to further scale and shape our businesses with a shared purpose,” Mr Molnar said.
“Today we’re at the start of an amazing partnership and I know our team across the globe share the excitement and enthusiasm at the opportunity to come.”
Hello,
Good Morning and welcome to today’s edition of Markets Live. Your editor today is Lucy Battersby.
This blog is not intended as financial advice.
ASX futures down 0.6%; Woolies issues costs warning
Source: Philippines Alive
