Merged drug duo eye £300m float

A NEW medical research company, created this week by the merger of Scotland's Strakan Group and ProSkelia of France, plans a £300m float.

Harry Stratford, chief executive of Strakan and of the new combined business, said today that the firm, whose products range from a bone-disease treatment to a pill to boost sex drive, will seek a public listing, possibly within 12 months.

Stratford, 56, and Strakan chairman John Kanis, 59, could make £15m each from their stakes in Strakan, which they founded in 1995 and first thought of floating two years ago when it was valued at £200m.

'With a float, we expect the new firm to be at least in the FTSE 350 - worth at least £300m where the market is at moment,' Stratford said.

The pair have together invested £5.5m in Strakan after selling their stakes in Shire Pharmaceuticals, which they founded in 1986.

Stratford said the new company would look for an investment bank to help with a float once it has raised 'at least £10m' from its venture capital backers, Warburg Pincus, 3i and London Merchant Securities.

Strakan's main seller is Adcal-D3, a supplement to help osteoporosis and is trialling its sex-drive pill. ProSkelia researches skeletal diseases and hormone-related cancers.