euro adhoc: LION bioscience AG
Mergers - Acquisitions - Takeovers
Ad-hoc
release: LION bioscience announces the take over of the operative business of
Axaron
Bioscience through acquisition of the shares in SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG
by using the
Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
05.07.2006
Heidelberg, July 5, 2006 - With the sale of its bioinformatics business unit in March this year, LION bioscience AG disposed most of its operational business and, thereby, reached a major milestone within the restructuring process which has been initiated at the end of 2004. As a consequence, the Management examined various alternatives for the future orientation and evaluated different individual cases. Today, after approval of the supervisory board, LION bioscience AG signed a contract together with two investment-companies of the family of SAP-founder Dietmar Hopp, BASF Aktiengesellschaft as well as Axaron Bioscience AG; according to this agreement LION bioscience AG shall acquire all shares of the company SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG which is owned by the other contracting parties. Depending on the approval of its General Meeting, Axaron Bioscience AG shall assign its entire operating business to SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG. Axaron Bioscience, which was founded in 1997, develops with its 35 employees promising novel therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases. AX200, a product for the treatment of strokes, is the most advanced compound and currently being tested in a phase IIa clinical trial. Furthermore, the management and supervisory board of LION bioscience AG resolved on July 5, 2006 to use 78.6 percent of its authorized capital to acquire all the shares in SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG. In exchange for these shares some 7.8 million new LION shares will be issued to the shareholders of SYGNIS Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG. The new shareholder structure after the transaction will be as follows: Hopp family 20.5 percent, Dr. Friedrich von Bohlen and Halbach (founder and chairman of the supervisory board of LION) 7.6 percent, BASF Aktiengesellschaft and Bayer AG 5.1 percent each, today's shareholders/freefloat of LION bioscience AG 61.7 percent.
Furthermore, both investment companies of the Hopp family and BASF Aktiengesellschaft committed further capital inflow of more than 18 million Euro in LION bioscience AG. For further information, please contact: |Peter Willinger |Dr. Franz-Werner Haas | |Chief Executive Officer |General Counsel | |Tel: +49 (0) 6221-4038 293 |Tel: +49 (0) 6221-4038 340 | |Email: |Email: | |peter.willinger@lionbioscience.com |franz.werner.haas@lionbioscience.c| | |om | | | | Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward looking. These forward-looking statements may include projections, assumptions, estimates, targets, and descriptions of future events. Such statements are based on currently available information and on LION's current expectations as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of LION to be materially
different from those that may be projected, expected, targeted, expressed or implied by such statements. All roll-out plans and future dates with respect to completion of development and market release of LION products are target dates only based on the company's current planning and may change in the future. Any delays in the current product release schedule will have a materially adverse effect on the company's targets for fiscal year. ###
end of announcement euro adhoc 05.07.2006 21:25:35
Further inquiry note:
Stephan Trautvetter
Director Finance & Accounting
Telefon: +49(0)6221 4038 476
E-Mail: stephan.trautvetter@lionbioscience.com
Branche: Biotechnology
ISIN: DE0005043509
WKN: 504350
Index: CDAX, Prime All Share, Technologie All Share
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / regulated dealing/prime
standard
New York / ADR
Börse Berlin-Bremen / free trade
Hamburger Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade