St James' extends ReNeuron offer

St James’ MGP says that it has extended its £3.6 million pound offer for UK biotechnology company, ReNeuron Holdings, until 21 May. As of yesterday, the first closing date of the offer, St James’ says that it had received valid acceptances in respect of 12.5 million ReNeuron shares, representing 35% of the firm’s issued share capital. Additionally, St James’ says it has entered into conditional agreements to acquire, or has received valid acceptances in respect of almost 34 million shares, which represents almost 95% of ReNeuron’s existing share capital. The deal was first announced last month [[01/04/03a]], when St James’ – wholly owned by the Merlin Consortium, which specialises in investing in life science companies, and was created specifically for the purpose of making this bid – made a £3.6 million cash offer. This was a 90% premium on the previous day’s closing price. St James’ plans to take ReNeuron into the private domain, which it says is the best environment for the firm’s continued development.