By Adriano Marchese
XOMA said Friday that it has agreed to acquire clinical-stage precision oncology company Kinnate Biopharma.
The biotechnology royalty aggregator has entered into an agreement in which it will acquire Kinnate for a base cash price of $2.3352 a share as well as an additional cash amount of up to 25.27 cents a share, which could bring the price as high as $2.5879 a share.
Kinnate shares have been under significant pressure over the past 12 months, falling over 67% and closing at $2.27 on Thursday. Shares of both companies were halted in premarket trading.
XOMA Chief Executive Owen Hughes said the acquisition would add to the company’s sizable cash balance as well as potentially add several programs to its royalty portfolio.
“We will look to monetize Kinnate’s precision oncology programs to the benefit of Kinnate and XOMA shareholders alike,” Hughes said.
Kinnate said its board has unanimously determined that the transaction is in the best interest of its shareholders.
A wholly owned subsidiary of XOMA will begin a tender offer by March 4 to acquire all outstanding shares of Kinnate common stock, and Kinnate said its officers, directors and shareholders holding about 46% of the company’s common stock have signed support agreements.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year.
Write to Adriano Marchese at [email protected]
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