Abbott announces plans to acquire full ownership of Hokuriku Seiyaku
Abbott to strengthen presence in world´s second largest health care market
Tokyo, April 22, 2002 — Abbott Laboratories today announced a tender offer in Japan of 38 billion Japanese Yen ($292 million) to acquire the remaining 33.3 percent of the issued common shares of Hokuriku Seiyaku (Tokyo Stock Exchange 4546). In March 2001, Abbott acquired 66.7 percent of the issued common shares through its purchase of Knoll, the pharmaceutical business of BASF.
Under the terms of the tender offer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott intends to acquire all remaining Hokuriku shares in cash for 2600 Japanese Yen per share. The tender offer will commence on April 23, 2002, and expire on May 30, 2002. Hokuriku's Board of Directors voted to support the offer.
After the tender offer, Hokuriku will establish a parent company, which will conduct a one-to-one transfer (kabushiki iten) of its shares in exchange for shares of Hokuriku. This parent company is expected to own 100 percent of Hokuriku’s shares, and subsequently sell all of its shares to Dainabot. Abbott is expected to own 100 percent of Hokuriku shares by year-end through Dainabot. Following the successful completion of these transactions, Dainabot and Hokuriku intend to merge.
Abbott currently operates two separate business entities in Japan: Hokuriku Seiyaku, with offices in Katsuyama and Tokyo; and Dainabot, with offices in Osaka and Tokyo. Full ownership of Hokuriku will allow Abbott to significantly strengthen its presence in the pharmaceutical market. Additionally, the combined company will benefit from a strong portfolio of current products, expanded sales force, and a pipeline of promising near-term products.
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