DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Australia's CSL Ltd. (CSL.AU) and North Carolina-based Talecris
Biotherapeutics Inc. said they terminated their agreement for CSL
to acquire Talecris for $3.1 billion.
The move comes nearly two weeks after the Federal Trade
Commission said it intended to block the deal because it would
shrink an already reduced roster of plasma competitors to four from
five. A complaint the agency filed in court noted the transaction
would leave only industry leader Baxter International Inc. (BAX) as
a major rival to the proposed combined company in the U.S.
CSL Chief Executive Brian McNamee said the company disagreed
with the FTC, but its board said entering into a battle with the
agency was not in the best interests of stakeholders.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on its Web site Monday that
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly temporarily restrained
CSL from consummating the deal while the FTC prepared its case.
CSL, the world's second-largest plasma products maker, will pay
Talecris a $75 million breakup fee, and the plasma-supply contract
the companies made in connection with the merger agreement will
remain in effect.
CSL reached a deal last August to buy Talecris, which would have
boosted its share of the $15 billion-a-year global plasma
therapeutics market. Talecris, owned by private-equity firms
Cerberus Partners and Tribeca Investment Partners, is the
third-largest producer of plasma medicines in the U.S., behind CSL
and market leader Baxter. The three companies control 83% of the
U.S. market.
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975;
Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com