Lilly completes offer for ImClone
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Lillyhas completed its tender offer for all of ImClone Systems's outstanding shares.. The $70 per share cash offer, conducted through Lilly's subsidiary Alaska Acquisition, expired at midnight EST on November 20th. Around 85.4 million shares were tendered, representing 95.5% of ImClone's issued and outstanding shares. Lilly plans to complete the acquisition through a short-form merger on or by Monday. All outstanding shares of ImClone's common stock not already purchased by Alaska will be converted into the right to receive $70 per share in cash. The offer's completion marks the end of one of this year's most headline-grabbing takeover stories after Bristol-Myers Squibbfailed to acquire ImClone. Lilly subsequently emerged as a mystery bidder and succeeded in offering what chairman Carl Icahn believed was an acceptable bid (Scrip Online, October 7th, 2008).