Halozyme abandons Evotec bid

San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company Halozyme Therapeutics has withdrawn the offer it made for Evotec after a week after the latter declined to engage with it. The €11/share bid implied a fully diluted equity value of €2 billion for the German drug developer. Some analysts believe it to have been driven by financial investor Triton, which recently increased its stake in the company to 9.99%. 

Halozyme president and CEO Helen Torley said that the company had “engaged in extensive external diligence” in months leading to its proposal, including informal discussions with a member of the supervisory board and an attempt to speak to the chairman. As this did not lead to a meeting, it made a formal proposal. 

“We continue to believe that a combination of Halozyme and Evotec would create a leading, differentiated, global pharma services company, Torley said. “However, to date, Evotec has been unwilling to engage with us to explore a potential combination and a company spokesperson has publicly commented that its goal is to remain an independent company.” 

Taking note of the statement Evotec commented: “The management board and supervisory board continue to have strong conviction in the company’s standalone strategy, which is expected to accelerate growth, strengthen the long-term profitability of the company and deliver significant value to shareholders.”