It’s a good morning. Welcome to the rolling press for business with the world economy, financial markets and the euro area. After
Philip Morris raised the offer for the company, the takeover war for British inhalation company Vectura between private equity companies and tobacco makers expanded. Marlboro Tobacco Owner
PMI has raised Vectura’s bid to just over £ 1 billion.
Carlyle’s bid had been accepted by Vectura’s board… following criticism from medical experts alarmed about the prospect of a major tobacco company owning a firm which makes medicines and devices to help with breathing problems.
PMI insists that it is committed to a long term transformation of its business to go ‘beyond Nicotine’, rather than being focused on “short term gains and efficiency” (a pop at the much-criticised private equity model).
Its plan to run Vectura as an autonomous business unit that will form the backbone of PMI’s inhaled therapeutics business:
PMI intends to increase the total level of expenditure on research and development that it believes will further benefit Vectura’s differentiated technologies and development expertise for the delivery of complex inhaled therapeutics….
PMI believes that its significant expertise in scientific research, regulatory science, manufacturing, supply chain and commercialization globally (with operations in over 180 markets), will safeguard and enhance the development of Vectura and its capabilities in complex inhaled therapeutics.
Philip Morris’s bid is worth 165p per share, beating the 155p per share offer from Carlyle (worth around £958m), which Vectura accepted on Friday afternoon (ditching its support for an earlier offer from PMI).