What happened
Shares of life sciences company Abcam (ABCM) were up 13.7% Friday afternoon after rising more than 14.6% earlier in the day. The impetus for the rise was the company's board of directors announcing strategic alternatives that included selling the company. The stock is up more than 47% this year.
So what
Abcam is a healthcare company based in Great Britain that makes antibodies and associated protein research tools, such as reagents and assays, used by biotech companies to study biological pathways for diagnostic and drug discovery purposes. Abcam's board said that the process of looking at strategic alternatives will begin immediately and will include a wide range of possibilities to increase shareholder value, including the potential sale of Abcam. The company has received a number of inquiries regarding a buyout and said it will use the services of Lazard and Morgan Stanley to look at its options.
Abcam is attractive because it has a customer base of 750,000 researchers who have used the company's tools, and it carries more than 110,000 products.
Now what
While the news encouraged investors, it's hard to tell what the impact a potential shakeup will bring. Abcam reported revenue last year of 361.7 million pounds (roughly $459.3 million), up 14.6%, but a net loss of 8.5 million pounds (roughly $10.8 million), compared to net income of 4.4 million pounds (roughly $5.6 million) in the same period a year ago.
Dr. Jonathan Milner, the company's founder and a former director, sent a letter to shareholders on June 12, asking to be appointed director and executive chairman and has called for the removal of nonexecutive chairman Peter Allen, CFO Michael Baldock, and nonexecutive director and remuneration committee chair Sally Crawford. Milner retains a 6.3% share in the company.
