The European Commission has approved a private equity takeover bid for Bavarian Nordic, the Danish maker of vaccines for mpox, cholera and chikungunya, leaving disgruntled shareholders to slug it out between them.
While Bavarian Nordic’s board has recommended that shareholders accept the DKK 233 per share offer from Permira and Nordic Capital Advisors, under the umbrella of a takeover vehicle called Innosera, key shareholders have rejected the offer.
Danish pension fund ATP, the largest shareholder with a 10 percent stake, has reportedly rejected the bid, saying it undervalues the vaccine firm’s future prospects.
“We encourage all shareholders to use the time until 14 October to carefully evaluate the DKK 233 per share offer and its benefits relative to the available alternatives,” said Florian Kreuzer, managing director of healthcare at Permira, in a statement released on Thursday (9 October).
Bavarian Nordic’s shares closed at DKK 232 per share on Thursday, before rising to a high of DKK 234.9 on Friday.
The bidder had initially said that 90 per cent of shareholders need to accept the deal, before lowering the threshold to three quarters after some shareholders said they would reject the offer.
