MDS to sell early stage business to Ricerca
MDS Pharma Services is to sell its remaining discovery and pre-clinical operations to Ohio-based Ricerca Biosciences for US$45m.
MDS Pharma Services is to sell its remaining discovery and pre-clinical operations to Ohio-based Ricerca Biosciences for US$45m.
The Toronto-based company said the purchase price for the businesses in Bothell, Washington; Lyon, France; and Taipei, Taiwan, includes a five-year, US$25m note and US$20m in cash.
The transaction will complete MDS's planned divestitures, allowing it to focus on its MDS Nordion division, which supplies medical isotopes for molecular imaging, radiotherapeutics and sterilisation technologies.
In September 2009, the company announced plans to sell its analytical tools division to US-based Danaher Corp for US$650m.
"While the sale agreements have been struck in a difficult environment, we believe we are doing what's necessary to allow us to focus on building MDS Nordion to create shareholder value over the long term," said Steve West, chief executive of MDS.
MDS's Early Stage Development operations, which consist of Phase I clinics and bioanalytical labs, and the company's development and regulatory services consultancy, will be sold to a new corporation primarily owned by Bain Capital Ventures and SV Life Sciences, two private investment firms with holdings in Ricerca.
Ricerca chief executive Ian Lennox said: "The addition of these facilities and personnel complement Ricerca's existing facility in Concord, Ohio, and position us as a global provider of discovery and development services. We have intimate working knowledge of these facilities; all are steeped in decades of experience and expertise."
The sale does not include the early stage development facility in Montreal, Canada, which will be closed with the loss of 225 jobs. The move should be completed by February 2011.
MDS Pharma Services" headquarters in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania are also excluded from the sale.
