Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SIRT), a biopharmaceutical company that develops proprietary, orally available, small molecule drugs to treat metabolic diseases, announced in early May the receipt of a cash tender offer for outstanding company shares. Fountain Acquisition Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), has begun a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Sirtris. The offer is for $22.50 in cash without interest and less any required withholding taxes.
The offer is being made pursuant to a previously announced definitive agreement dated April 22, 2008 among Sirtris, Fountain Acquisition Corporation and SmithKline Beecham Corporation, another wholly-owned subsidiary of GSK. The definitive agreement, worth $720M through a cash tender offer of $22.50 per share, allows GSK to enhance its metabolic, neurology, immunology and inflammation research efforts. Sirtris would become part of GSK’s Drug Discovery organization while continuing to operate from its Cambridge, Massachusetts as an autonomous drug discovery unit.
The Sirtris board of directors has unanimously determined that acceptance of the merger agreement, the tender offer, and the merger is in the best interests of Sirtris and its stockholders. The company unanimously recommended that Sirtris’ stockholders tender their shares in the offer. The offer will expire at 12:00 midnight on Friday, May 20, 2008.
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