British pharmaceutical firm will delist from AIM and is to be acquired by DBAY Advisors and ERES IV Fund for  £349.7 million. 

Asset management firm DBAY Advisors and Edmond de Rothschild-owned ERES IV Fund are to acquire British pharmaceutical firm Alliance Pharma for £349.7 million. 

The Isle of Man-based asset manager and the Geneva-based private bank are offering 62.5 pence-per-share offer. This is an almost 41% premium to the firm’s share price on AIM before the deal was announced. The offer is supported by the directors of Alliance. 

Alliance Pharma markets and distributes over-the-counter consumer healthcare and prescription products across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. It has around 285 employees. 

The firm had a solid year last year. For the six months to June, it posted a 23% jump in its underlying pre-tax profits to £12.7 million under the leadership of Nick Sedgwick who was appointed chief executive in May. 

DBAY was the largest shareholder ahead of its takeover bid holding 27.9% of Alliance Pharma stock. 

In a statement, it said: “DBAY is supportive of Alliance’s leadership team and believes in Alliance’s future prospects but considers that Alliance needs to implement a range of operational and strategic initiatives, in conjunction with a period of accelerated investment and selective acquisitions of complementary products, in order to fulfil the growth potential of the business.”

The deal is expected to complete in the summer. 

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