The Hindu Business Line : Sun Pharma extends open offer by a month

The development follows Israeli drug-maker Taro Pharmaceutical appealing to the Supreme Court against an earlier decision by the Tel-Aviv District Court that had gone in favour of Sun Pharma.

The lower court had rejected Taro’s contention that Sun Pharma had to conduct a special tender offer for the founders’ shares, under the Israeli Law.

The ongoing tender offer, scheduled to close on September 3, was extended to comply with the Israeli Supreme Court’s orders that prohibited the closing of the offer until the court gave its decision on the litigation, a note from Sun Pharma said.

Decision on appeal

The Supreme Court order also said that the appeal will be heard no later than December 15, 2008, but no briefing schedule has yet been set, the note said.

Further, it added that if the temporary order remains in effect and the Supreme Court had not decided the appeal by October 3, 2008, Sun will further extend the Offer while the temporary order remains outstanding.

Public spat

Sun Pharma and Taro locked horns after the latter terminated Sun’s $ 454 million acquisition proposal, a year after it was formalised. This was followed by a public spat, with the two companies hauling each other’s promoters and directors to court.

Meanwhile, Sun Pharma pushed ahead with its open offer on June 30, 2008 in order to comply with the terms of the Option Agreement between its subsidiary Alkaloida and the controlling shareholders of Taro.

Alkaloida exercised its options to acquire shares of Taro from the controlling shareholders on June 25, 2008. The Option Agreement required Alkaloida, promptly after exercising the options, to commence a tender offer at $7.75 for an ordinary share of Taro held by other shareholders. As of September 2, about 9,226 ordinary shares had been tendered and not withdrawn from the offer, Sun Pharma said.

Sun Pharma shares were down over 1 per cent at Rs 1,510.95 on the BSE.

Related Stories:
Sun gets favourable ruling in battle for Taro
Sun Pharma extends offer for Taro till Sept 2

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