Northwich-headquartered Dechra Pharmaceuticals has taken a controlling interest in Genera, acquiring 92.3 per cent of the voting rights in the listed Croatian pharmaceutical business for an aggregate cost of €36.6m (£26.9m).
In August 2015, the veterinary pharmaceuticals business announced that it had signed a conditional share purchase agreement with Genera's majority shareholder Marijan Hanžekovic to purchase his 63.3 per cent stake, which is equivalent to 69 per cent of voting rights. The agreement was conditional on Dechra obtaining acceptances to the takeover offer that, when combined with Hanžekovic's shareholding, would amount to 75 per cent or more of Genera's voting share capital.
Now Dechra has told the London Stock Exchange that it received valid acceptances in respect of 382,390 Genera shares not owned by Hanžekovic, which amounts to 20.7 per cent of the entire share capital, meaning the deal with Hanžekovic became unconditional.
Hanžekovic's were subsequently transferred on 20 October and the minority shares followed on 21 October. This means Dechra now owns 1.5m Genera shares, which is equivalent to 84 per cent of the share capital and 92.3 per cent of the voting rights.
Dechra has confirmed that its intention is to delist Genera from the Zagreb Stock Exchange. And it said that the aggregate cost to date of acquiring the controlling interest in Genera has been £26.9m funded from existing cash and debt facilities.
Read more at www.insidermedia.com