Bentley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BNT) approved the spin-off of its drug delivery business into a new publicly traded company to be called CPEX Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) bought Bentley for $360 million, and one of the conditions of the deal was the spin-off of Bentley's drug-delivery business.
CPEX will be a drug delivery company involved in the business of development, licensing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products utilizing validated drug delivery technology.
The Bentley board also set the date for stockholders to vote on the proposed acquisition of Bentley by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., naming Tuesday, July 22, 2008, as the meeting date for stockholders to vote on the merger.
Bentley authorized a dividend on its common stock of one CPEX share for every 10 shares of Bentley common stock. The distribution is expected to take place after the close of business on June 30, 2008. As a result of the spin-off, Bentley will no longer own any shares of CPEX common stock.
In March, Bentley entered into a merger agreement with Teva and Beryllium Merger Corporation, a wholly owned, newly formed subsidiary of Teva. Beryllium will merge with and into Bentley, and as a result, Bentley will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Teva. The board of Bentley set Tuesday, July 22, 2008, as the meeting date for stockholders to vote on this merger.
Shares in Teva rose 0.57% in Nasdaq trading on Friday to close at $42.50, reflecting a market cap of $32.8 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 15, 2008
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