McKesson Corporation (MCK) announced that it has launched a public takeover offer for the outstanding shares of Germany-based drug distribution company Celesio.
The company also launched tender offers for the outstanding convertible bonds of Celesio at a price corresponding to the value of the underlying shares implied by the offer price of €23 per share. The offers were launched through McKesson’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Dragonfly GmbH & Co. KGaA.
The tender offer for bonds equals to €53,117.78 per bond for Celesio’s convertible bond due 2014 (principal amount of €50,000) and €120,798.32 per bond for Celesio’s convertible bond due 2018 (principal amount of €100,000).
We remind investors that McKesson announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Celesio for approximately €23 per share or $8.3 billion in Oct 2013. Under the terms of a share purchase agreement between McKesson and the largest shareholder in Celesio – Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH – the former has agreed to acquire latter’s stake in Celesio, which currently represents 50.01% of the total outstanding shares of the company.
The acquisition is conditional upon regulatory approvals and the acquisition of a 75% stake in Celesio by McKesson.
Celesio provides logistics and services in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector with operations in approximately 14 countries. The potential acquisition, if it goes through, will allow McKesson to gain a foothold in Europe, thereby geographically expanding its core operations further.
McKesson currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Other stocks that currently look attractive include Cardinal Health (CAH), Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) and Herbalife Ltd. (HLF). While Cardinal Health and Herbalife carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) is a Zacks Rank #1.
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