Carlyle sweetens offer for Vectura, trumps Philip Morris

Vectura shares surged on Friday after private equity firm Carlyle upped its offer for the inhaler maker to £958m, trumping an earlier offer from US tobacco giant Philip Morris International.

Under the terms of the sweetened offer, Vectura shareholders will receive 155p per share in cash, up from an offer of 136p in May and higher than PMI’s offer of 150p a share last month.

Vectura said its directors consider the terms of the offer to be fair and reasonable and now intend to withdraw their recommendation of the PMI offer.

Chairman Bruno Angelici said: "We welcome the increased offer from Carlyle, which demonstrates the strong progress Vectura has made since embarking on its new strategy in 2019.

"Whilst we remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of the Vectura Group, we believe this is a highly attractive offer for Vectura shareholders, which secures the delivery of future value in cash, with no regulatory contingencies to completion."

Chief executive Will Downie said: "We are well aware of the capabilities Carlyle has in the healthcare space and their successful track record with businesses they have invested in. We also recognise the potential benefits to Vectura's existing strategy and associated stakeholders from being under Carlyle ownership, and believe that our people, our clients and our businesses can prosper under the stewardship of Carlyle."

Vectura shares closed up 6.4% at 163.90p.