Completion of acquisition and

RNS Number : 4645H

Alliance Pharma PLC

22 February 2010

 



For Immediate Release

22 February 2010

 

ALLIANCE PHARMA PLC

("Alliance" or the "Company")

Completion of acquisition and vendor share placing

Board appointment

Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the speciality pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement of 8 February 2010, it has now completed the acquisition of the trade and certain assets of Cambridge Laboratories (Ireland) Limited and Cambridge Laboratories Limited (together the "Vendors") for a total consideration of between £14.3m and £16.4m plus the value of inventory held by the Vendors at completion (the "Acquisition").

The Company successfully raised £7.5m by way of a vendor share placing (the "Placing") to part finance the initial cash element of the consideration for the Acquisition.  28,846,154 new ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of Alliance were placed with certain existing and new UK investors by Numis Securities Limited at a placing price of 26 pence per share. The balance of the initial cash element of the consideration for the Acquisition of £2.7m, and an initial payment of £0.75m towards the value of inventory acquired at completion, were financed by way of an additional £4m term loan provided by Lloyds Banking Group.  The Company expects to fund the deferred elements of the consideration and any deferred contingent consideration for the Acquisition, as detailed in its announcement of 8 February 2010, through internal cash generation and its existing working capital facility, provided by Lloyds Banking Group, which has been increased from £5m to £6m.

The Acquisition is expected to be significantly earnings enhancing to Alliance in the financial year ending 31 December 2010.

The Company is also pleased to announce that Peter Jonathan Butterfield has today been appointed to the Board of the Company.

Mr Butterfield, age 34, has been with Cambridge Laboratories since 2004, most recently as UK Commercial Manager.  He is a Board Member of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry ("ABPI") and is currently chairman of the ABPI Small Companies Forum.  Prior to joining Cambridge Laboratories, Mr Butterfield spent six years at SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline), where he acquired extensive sales and marketing knowledge.  He holds an honours degree in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh.

There is no further information in connection with the appointment of Mr Butterfield to the Board of Alliance which is required to be disclosed in accordance with Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies

John Dawson, Alliance's Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to welcome Peter to Alliance.  He brings with him extensive knowledge of the products acquired from Cambridge Laboratories which will be invaluable as we integrate the two businesses."

For further information:

Alliance Pharma plc	+ 44 (0) 1249 466966
John Dawson, Chief Executive
Richard Wright, Finance Director
www.alliancepharma.co.uk
Buchanan Communications	+ 44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Mark Court / Stasa Filiplic / Jennie Spivey
Numis Securities Limited	+ 44 (0) 20 7260 1000
Nominated Adviser: Michael Meade / Brent Nabbs
Corporate Broking: David Poutney

Notes to editors:

About Alliance

Alliance, founded in 1998, is an AIM listed speciality pharmaceutical company based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK. The Company has a strong track record of acquiring the rights to established niche products and, following the Cambridge Laboratories acquisition, owns or licenses the rights to more than 50 pharmaceutical products and continues to explore opportunities to expand the range.

Alliance's products are prescribed in the treatment of a wide range of conditions and include products used in the treatment of dermatological conditions, in oncology, in childbirth, in the prevention of heart disease, in Parkinson's disease, in nutrition and in nasal infections.  Alliance's sales are mainly prescription driven.  Its products are distributed to hospitals directly and to pharmaceutical wholesalers, which service both hospital and retail pharmacies with their prescription requirements.

Alliance joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2003 and trades under the symbol APH.

Numis Securities Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, is acting for Alliance Pharma plc and for no-one else in connection with the contents of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Alliance Pharma plc for providing the protections afforded to clients of Numis Securities Limited, or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any matters referred to herein.

 

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