Carlyle Group to acquire british pharma firm Vectura for $1.4bn

Private equity firm Carlyle Group on Wednesday announced plans to buy U.K. drug contractor Vectura in a deal that values the company at 958 million pounds, or about $1.4 billion.

Under the agreement, which is routed through a newly formed company dubbed Murano Bidco, Vectura stockholders will receive 155 pence a share, a premium of 27% over yesterday’s closing price. The transaction requires shareholder, regulator and court approval; the companies expect the purchase to close in the third quarter.

The company provides inhaled drug delivery solutions for its partners’ medicines. It has 13 inhaled and 11 non-inhaled products which are marketed by partners with royalty streams globally. On the other hand, Carlyle will have access to Vectura’s global network, resources and experience.

Its partnered portfolio also includes drugs in clinical development. Some of Vectura’s partners are Hikma, Novartis and its unit Sandoz, Mundipharma, Kyorin, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Bayer, Chiesi, Almirall and Tianjin KingYork.