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Hogan Lovells advises Abcam on USD170 million acquisition of Epitomics

Hogan Lovells advised AIM listed Abcam plc (Abcam) on its agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Epitomics International Inc (Epitomics), for USD170 million in a deal announced on Monday 5 March 2012. Epitomics is based in San Francisco with operations in China.

Abcam, a global leader in the supply of protein research tools, will acquire the antibody business which is focused on the development, production and distribution of rabbit monoclonal antibodies (RabMAbs) for biomedical research and diagnostic applications. The transaction is expected to close by May 2012.

The acquisition is to be funded in cash and stock.  Abcam will issue approximately 14.5 million new shares as part of the deal and has put in place a new credit facility to help fund the acquisition.

Hogan Lovells is a global leader in the life sciences sector and has recently been ranked No1 in the PLC Which Lawyer? Life Sciences Industry Super League 2012. Recent deals in the sector on which Hogan Lovells has advised include the management of Phadia on its EUR2.47 billion acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. from European private equity firm Cinven; and Merck & Co, Inc. on the sale of MSD Biologics and Diosynth RTP to FUJIFILM.

Hogan Lovells fielded a cross-border team to advise Abcam led by Co-Head of private equity Alan Greenough (pictured) and corporate partner Amit Nayyar, with deal teams in Palo Alto and Shanghai led, respectively, by corporate partners John Booher and Michael Chin.

The Abcam team also included Philip Watkins (partner, corporate), Monika Przygoda and Jo Roberts (associates, corporate), Sarah Turner (Of Counsel, IP), Camille Astier (senior associate, banking), partner Louise Whitewright and associate Louise Crook (Share Options) in London; Lorig Kalaydijan (associate, corporate), Valerie Brennan (counsel, IP), Vi Nguyen (associate, employee benefits), Scott McClure (partner, tax) and Randy Prebula (counsel, medical) in Palo Alto; and Xiaochen Hu and Maggie Shen (associates, corporate) and Alex Xia (associate, IP) in Shanghai.

Anti-trust and HSR advice was provided by partners Joseph Krauss (Washington DC,) and Angus Coulter (London).

"We are pleased to have advised Abcam on this important strategic acquisition that fits with its global vision to become the world’s leading life science tools company,” says Greenough. “Our London, Palo Alto and Shanghai offices worked on the transaction highlighting our global capabilities on this type of deal."
 

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