Oct 20 2009
The Special Committee of Independent Directors of Patheon Inc. ("Patheon" or "the Company") (TSX:PTI) today announced that Lonza Group AG ("Lonza") has withdrawn its previously announced non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding restricted voting shares of the Company. In addition, the Special Committee and Lonza have mutually agreed to terminate discussions regarding other possible strategic transactions between Lonza and Patheon.
The Lonza proposal was announced on August 21, 2009. JLL Patheon Holdings LLC ("JLL"), which now holds 57% of the Company's outstanding restricted voting shares, announced that it rejected the proposal and would not support any transaction involving a sale of JLL's shares of Patheon. Although due diligence had been substantially completed and Lonza and Patheon continued to explore various strategic options that could be in the best interests of the two companies, they were unable to agree to acceptable terms for such a transaction.
The Special Committee will continue to fulfill its mandate on behalf of all shareholders of Patheon and will continue to communicate with investors as developments warrant.