Analysts covering CSL have been told to get ready for an investment briefing after the Australian Securities Exchange closes on Tuesday, with the country’s largest healthcare company said to be poised to announce an acquisition of Vifor Pharma for about $US12bn ($16.87bn).
CSL on Tuesday entered a trading halt, which the company said was ahead of an announcement related to a potential material acquisition and associated equity raising.
The understanding is that a deal will be announced in time for the opening of the markets in Europe.
CSL said that the trading halt will be in place until December 16 or when its announcement is released to the market.
Working for CSL on an acquisition of Vifor Pharma is understood to be Bank of America and Goldman Sachs while Centreview is working with Vifor Pharma and some question whether a European bank such as UBS is also appears on Vifor’s side.
CSL is expected to announce a placement and share purchase plan collectively worth about $US4bn.
However, the talks went cold due to various issues.
The column reported at the start of December that the pair were in exclusive talks.
The thinking among some is that CSL may have opted to move this week on an equity raising because of a recent rally in its share price.
Vifor counts former CSL director Abbas Hussain as its chief executive and sources say its major shareholder Martin Ebner has been open to an acquisition of the business by a party for months.
Private equity was known to have been circling in November last year.
The group specialises in treatments for iron deficiency and renal treatment and has been branching out into treatments for heart failure.
Mr Ebner, a Swiss billionaire, holds 20 per cent of the business through his company Patinex, which owns other multimillion dollar stakes in companies.
CSL is a biotechnology company that develops products to treat and prevent serious medical conditions.
The company uses human plasma to produce treatments for bleeding disorders including haemophilia and von Willebrand disease, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioendema, inherited respiratory disease and neurological disorders.
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