Nordic Capital, Permira takeover offer for Bavarian Nordic falls through

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(Reuters) -Innosera, a consortium led by Nordic Capital and Permira, failed to achieve the required level of support from shareholders for its planned takeover of Bavarian Nordic and will withdraw its bid, Bavarian Nordic said on Thursday.

The consortium received acceptances from shareholders representing 60% of shares in Bavarian Nordic, falling short of the minimum acceptance threshold of 66.67% of all shares in the company.

Innosera has therefore resolved to withdraw the offer, Bavarian Nordic said in a statement.

“We acknowledge and respect the decision made by shareholders, which means that Bavarian Nordic will continue as an independent listed company with its current growth strategy,” Bavarian’s chair Luc Debruyne said in a statement.

The offer announced in July included a subscription price of 233 Danish crowns ($36.17) per share, or around $3 billion total, which has caused a stir among Bavarian Nordic’s shareholders.

The vaccine maker’s biggest shareholder, Danish pension fund ATP which holds around a 10% stake in the company, had publicly refused to accept it. Innosera later amended the minimum acceptance condition twice to 75% and then to 66.67% from the initial 90%.

After protests from shareholders, Innosera hiked the offer price in October to 250 crowns per share and extended the offer period until November 5.

The board of directors of Bavarian Nordic recommended both the original and the revised offer to the shareholders.

Bavarian Nordic’s shares fell by around 20% following the publication of the statement on Thursday.

($1 = 6.4422 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Vera Dvorakova and Izabela Niemiec in Gdansk; Editing by)