(Bloomberg) — Germany’s Evotec SE is attracting a potential takeover interest from Nasdaq-listed biotech company Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
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Halozyme recently expressed interest in acquiring Evotec for about 11 euros per share, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. That would represent about 27% of Evotec’s closing price on Thursday and would value the German drug developer at around 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion).
Evotec’s American depositary receipts rose as much as 19% on Thursday and were up 12% at 2:59 pm in New York, giving the company a market value of $1.8 billion. Shares of San Diego, California-based Halozyme, after falling as much as 7.3%, fell 5.3%, giving it a market value of about $7 billion.
The consideration is at an early stage and there is no guarantee that it will lead to an agreement. A representative for Halozyme declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Evotec had no immediate comment.
Evotec shares have fallen nearly 59% this year, dwarfing a 15% gain in Germany’s benchmark DAX index. Private equity firm Triton Partners recently revealed that it has acquired a stake in Evotec and was considering a takeover, Bloomberg News reported.
Evotec develops drug discovery programs with biotech and pharmaceutical companies in areas including cardiology, oncology and immunology.
Chief Executive Christian Wojczewski, who took over at Evotec in July, said on an earnings call this month that his job is to rebuild trust and provide clarity and credibility to investors. Previous CEO Werner Lanthaler stepped down for personal reasons. The company later said Lanthaler failed to report the stock trades on time, adding that the lapses were unrelated to his exit.
–Courtesy of Michael Hytha.
(Updates on Evotec ADRs in the third paragraph.)
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