Global biopharmaceutical giant Pfizer will progress with its $180 million takeover of Brisbane-based telehealth company ResApp Health (ASX: RAP) after the target’s shareholders voted in favour of the deal yesterday.
As detailed by ResApp, around 83 per cent of votes were in favour of the deal which will see Pfizer buy all of the company’s shares for 20.8c each. This is up from an initial offer of 11.5c per share offered by Pfizer in April.
The deal represents a solid return for investors who participated in the 2015 backdoor listing for ResApp, which owns technology developed by UQ Associate Professor Udantha Abeyratne that uses machine learning to diagnose and measure the severity of respiratory diseases from audio recordings on smartphones.
Although shareholder approval has been obtained, the scheme remains subject to conditions including Supreme Court of New South Wales approval and the independent expert continuing to conclude the deal is in the best interests of shareholders.
The next court hearing will be held on 13 September and, if approval is granted, the scheme is expected to be implemented on 23 September.
As part of the deal, Pfizer will enter into a research and development licence agreement with ResApp to collaborate on products in the field of COVID-19. This component has a $3 million up-front licence fee and the collaboration timeframe is for six months with options for two three-month extensions. There is also a $1 million milestone payment based on clinical trial recruitment.
Shares in ResApp traded higher at 20.5c at 10.27 AEST today..
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