Warner Chilcott accepts £1.61bn bid

WARNER Chilcott chairman John King scooped a £140 million jackpot today after the Northern Irish drugs maker accepted a £1.61bn takeover bid from a consortium of venture capitalists.

DLJ Merchant Banking and JP Morgan outbid rival consortiums headed by Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital with an 862p-a-share proposal. The price reflects a premium of 33% to the closing price of 648p a share on 17 September, the day before Warner Chilcott said it had received an offer.

The auction result will surprise the private equity world. Goldman Sachs was seen as the front-runner after triggering the auction with an initial £1.5bn offer.

King, 54, has been with the business for 25 years and has a stake of 7%. He is expected to leave the company, as is finance director Geoffrey Elliott. Also 54, Elliott will make £75m from the deal. Both joined the group when it was known as Galen Holdings.

The Belfast-based business, which changed its name this year, recently sold its UK operations to focus on women's health and dermatology products in the US.

Warner today unveiled pre-tax profits up just £1m at £42.3m in the year to end-September. But it said operating profits from its continuing businesses were up 77% at £242.7m.