Medivation, today announced that its board of directors unanimously rejected the proposal from Sanofi to acquire Medivation for £36.09 ($52.50) per share in cash
David Hung, founder, president and chief executive officer of Medivation, said: "Over the past several years, we have established a world class oncology franchise and a unique, diversified and highly-promising late-stage development pipeline.
"Sanofi's opportunistically-timed proposal, which comes during a period of significant market dislocation, and prior to several important near-term events for the company, is designed to seize for Sanofi value that rightly belongs to our stockholders.
“We believe the continued successful execution of our well-defined strategic plan will deliver greater value to Medivation's stockholders than Sanofi's substantially inadequate proposal."
Medivation said its Board of Directors' unanimous conclusion was based on:
- The proposal undervaluing Medivation and its oncology franchise.
- Sanofi's proposal would deny Medivation's stockholders the value of Medivation's wholly-owned, late-stage pipeline.
- The execution of Medivation's business plan will deliver value to its stockholders that is far superior to Sanofi's proposal.
- Sanofi's timing is designed to benefit Sanofi - not Medivation's stockholders.
Kim Blickenstaff, chairman of Medivation's board of directors, said: "Medivation has a long history of producing superior growth and generating significant value for its stockholders.
“Since the launch of XTANDI, Medivation has achieved revenues of nearly $1 billion in just over three years. There are several exciting pipeline opportunities that will drive significant growth.
“The Board is determined to continue to aggressively focus on working for, and delivering value to, Medivation's stockholders."
Sanofi issued this statement in response to the rejection: “Sanofi is a disciplined acquirer and has a strong acquisition track-record.
“While to date Medivation has chosen not to enter into discussions regarding this value-creating transaction, Sanofi remains committed to the combination and looks forward to engaging directly with Medivation shareholders with regard to our proposal.”