Efforts to stop the takeover of leading British biotech firm Abcam have been dealt a blow after two leading shareholder advisory groups backed the deal.
Jonathan Milner, a leading UK breast cancer specialist who founded Cambridge-based Abcam in 1998, is desperately trying to halt a bit by conglomerate Danaher in a £4.7 billion buyout.
He is the group’s second-largest investor with a 6.2 per cent stake and insists Danaher’s offer undervalues the company. He has called for investors to reject the deal instal him as chief executive and dump the board.
Setback: Jonathan Milner is desperately trying to halt a bit by conglomerate Danaher in a £4.7 billion buyout
But his efforts suffered a setback last week when two of the City’s major advisory groups recommended investors support the takeover.
PIRC recommended shareholders back the deal. Rival shareholder advisory consultancy Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) previously said the takeover was ‘a superior alternative’ to Milner’s proposition which they claimed would create ‘risk and uncertainty.’
