(Reuters) -An Australian court ruling on Wednesday has stopped U.S. drugmaker Cosette from abandoning its A$672 million ($437.6 million) takeover of Mayne Pharma, which now awaits clearance from the Foreign Investment Review Board.
The ASX-listed pharmaceutical company, in a statement on Thursday, said it would take all steps within its scope to implement the deal.
Cosette has been trying to terminate its offer, after saying in May that it was reviewing the deal because of a “material adverse change” in Mayne’s performance. The company had offered A$7.40 apiece for every Mayne share.
The New Jersey-headquartered firm had flagged that there have been a series of events, including Mayne’s nine-month trading update and the receipt and disclosure of a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which have caused Cosette to form a view that a material change had occurred.
The Australian company rejected Cosette’s termination notice, arguing that no material adverse change occurred and that the U.S. firm had no legal basis to abandon the deal.
Cosette did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
($1 = 1.5356 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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