The Special Committee of Independent Directors of Patheon Inc. (TSX:PTI) and Lonza Group AG (SIX:LONN) announced today that Lonza, one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries, has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding Restricted Voting Shares of Patheon at a price of US$3.55 per Restricted Voting Share.
"Our interest in Patheon is consistent with Lonza's stated strategy of expanding our offering across the pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. An acquisition of Patheon would take us into the complementary activities of finished dosage development and manufacturing for both small molecule and biological active ingredients. With Patheon, Lonza would be in a unique position to offer its customers manufacturing capability across the complete supply chain," said Stefan Borgas, CEO of Lonza.
Paul Currie, Chairman of the Special Committee of Independent Directors of Patheon, said that, if completed, a transaction at the price proposed by Lonza would be a significant improvement in value for Patheon shareholders above the current offer from JLL Patheon Holdings LLC ("JLL").