Instem Shares Gapped Up 40.3% on Premium £203M Takeover Offer

The Instem PLC (LON: INS) share price gapped up 40.25% after announcing that it had accepted a takeover offer valuing the company at approximately £203 million. Each existing Instem shareholder shall receive 833 pence per share in the company, marking a 41% premium to yesterday’s closing price.

The company accepted the takeover offer from the board of directors of Ichor Management Limited (Bidco), a firm formed specifically for the takeover by ARCHIMED. This leading global investment firm focuses exclusively on healthcare industries, with over €8 billion of assets under management (AUM).

The rationale for the takeover was based on the fact that Instem is a market leader in providing workflow, data, and IT solutions across the drug development lifecycle. The company serves the global life sciences market and is well-positioned to capitalise on the growing R&D market due to its high-quality product portfolio. 

Instem can leverage ARCHIMED’s deep industry knowledge and network as a specialist healthcare investor to accelerate its growth strategy and support the Instem management team in expanding its product offering and transitioning customers from an on-premise to a SaaS business model.

ARCHIMED noted that Inste could also deploy additional capital for accretive and value-enhancing M&A opportunities. Instem could also accelerate its organic growth in its growing In Silico & Translational Science and Clinical Trial Analytics business segments by leveraging ARCHIMED's network and experience. 

The acquisition is set to be conducted via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement after shareholders approve the same. 

David Gare, Inseam’s Board Chair, said: “The Instem Board is pleased with the considerable progress made by the Company following the successful integration of acquisitions and the implementation of its strategy to achieve and maintain a growing portfolio of ‘world-leading life science workflow and data solutions'. While this strategy, endorsed by the Board, is anticipated to generate substantial long-term value for shareholders, we also note that the next phase of development for the business is at an early stage, and there is an element of risk attached to some of our recent initiatives… The offer from Bidco represents an attractive valuation and offers shareholders the certainty of cash today while also fairly reflecting the exceptional quality of the Instem business…”

Instem share price. 

The Instem share price rallied 40.25% to trade at 827.50p, from Tuesday’s closing price of 590.00p.