Avid Bioservices stockholders give thumbs up to $1.1B all-cash deal to go private
Biologics CDMO Avid Bioservices announced that its stockholders in a special meeting voted to approve the pending $1.1 billion acquisition by GHO Capital Partners and Ampersand Capital Partners.
Avid mailed proxy materials and a letter to stockholders in connection with the proposed deal. A special meeting to vote on the transaction, which was open to all Avid stockholders of record as of Dec. 11, 2024, was held on Thursday.
With Thursday’s stockholder approval, Avid said all closing conditions — other than those that will be satisfied at closing — have been met and regulatory approvals have been received, clearing the way for the transaction to close in the coming days.
“We thank our stockholders for their support through our time as a public company and the duration of this process,” Avid CEO Nick Green said in a statement. “We look forward to completing the transaction and delivering significant, immediate and certain cash value to our stockholders.”
In November 2024, Avid announced that it entered into a merger agreement to be acquired by funds managed by GHO and Ampersand in an all-cash transaction.
Stephens analyst Jacob Johnson in a note to investors last month said “a large private CDMO and large international public company in the CDMO industry, respectively, expressed interest in Avid” in 2022 and 2023, though neither went beyond initial interest.
According to Johnson, GHO/Ampersand’s 2024 interest in Avid first took the form of an unsolicited June 5 proposal letter to buy the CDMO for $10.50 per share, which Avid’s board of directors rejected because it “did not appropriately value” the company.
After a series of offers and counteroffers last year, Johnson said GHO/Ampersand on Oct. 23 indicated they would be willing to agree to $12.50 per share in cash, with Avid’s board on Nov. 6 unanimously approving the deal.
When the transaction was approved by Avid’s board, William Blair analyst Max Smock said in a note to investors that while there “may be some potential disappointment with the takeout price based on where the stock has traded more recently ... based on our call with management we would be surprised if there is enough shareholder support to prevent the transaction or if another bidder emerges.”
Last month, Avid announced financial results for the second quarter and six months ended October 31, 2024. Revenues for Q2 increased 32% compared to the same period last year, while revenues for the first six months of fiscal 2025 were up 17%, thanks to boosts in manufacturing and process development.
Avid’s CDMO services include cGMP clinical and commercial drug substance manufacturing, as well as a range of process development activities — such as cell line development, upstream and downstream development and optimization, analytical methods development, testing and characterization — for early-stage programs.