Sanofi Files Consent Solicitation To Remove and Replace Medivation's Board
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Sanofi Files Consent Solicitation
To Remove and Replace Medivation's Board
Paris, France - May 25, 2016 - Sanofi today announced that it has filed
preliminary consent solicitation materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") seeking to remove and replace each member of Medivation,
Inc.'s (NASDAQ: MDVN) Board of Directors with eight independent and highly-
qualified candidates who are willing to fully and fairly evaluate all of
Medivation's strategic options, including Sanofi's acquisition offer, in
accordance with their fiduciary duties to Medivation and its shareholders.
"Despite multiple attempts, both prior to and following the public disclosure of
Sanofi's proposal, Medivation has thus far refused to engage with us regarding
the merits of a value creating transaction," said Olivier Brandicourt, M.D.,
Sanofi Chief Executive Officer. "Unfortunately, this has left us with no choice
but to commence a process to elect directors who are more open to supporting the
best interests of Medivation shareholders regarding a potential transaction."
The slate of highly qualified directors proposed by Sanofi includes:
* Michael E. Campbell, the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Arch Chemicals, Inc. and a current director at WestRock;
* Barbara Deptula, the former Executive Vice President of Business Development
and Chief Corporate Development Officer of Shire Plc. and a current director
at AMAG Pharmaceuticals;
* Wendy E. Lane, the current Chairman of Lane Holdings, Inc., an investment
firm, and a current director at MSCI Inc. and Willis Towers Watson;
* Ronald S. Rolfe, a retired Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, a premier
law firm in the United States, where he practiced until his retirement in
December 2010;
* Steven J. Shulman, managing partner of Shulman Family Ventures, a private
equity firm since 2008, and Chairman of Accretive Health, Inc. and
CareCentrix, Inc.;
* Charles P. Slacik, the former Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice
President of Beckman Coulter Inc.;
* James L. Tyree, the co-founder and managing partner of Tyree & D'Angelo
Partners, a private equity investment firm, and a current director at
SonarMed, Genelux, ChemoCentryx and Innovia; and
* David A. Wilson, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Graduate Management Admission Council, and a current director at CoreSite
Realty Corporation and Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.
These individuals are committed to acting in the best interest of maximizing
value for Medivation shareholders. On April 28, 2016, Sanofi disclosed a
proposal to acquire Medivation for $52.50 per share, representing an all-cash
transaction valued at approximately $9.3 billion. The proposed purchase price
represents a premium of over 50 percent to Medivation's average trading prices
prior to there being takeover rumors.
Following SEC approval of a definitive consent solicitation statement, Sanofi
will make the definitive consent solicitation statement available to Medivation
shareholders and shareholders may begin to deliver their written consents to
Sanofi's proposals. For Sanofi's proposals in the consent solicitation to become
effective, written consents would need to be properly completed by the holders
of a majority of Medivation shares outstanding as of the close of business on
the record date.
Additionally, Sanofi today sent the following letter to the Medivation Board of
Directors:
Board of Directors
Medivation, Inc.
525 Market Street, 36th floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
Paris, May 25, 2016
Dear Members of the Board of Directors,
We have filed consent solicitation materials in which we have named 8
independent and highly qualified nominees who have agreed to become directors
upon removal of the Medivation directors. We are taking this step because we
believe your shareholders overwhelmingly support the sale of Medivation, and
they want Medivation to undertake a sale process and engage with Sanofi. To date
Medivation has not announced a sale process and has not engaged with us.
During the past weeks we reached out directly and through advisors to request
that Medivation engage with Sanofi. We have relayed our willingness to enter
into a confidentiality agreement in order to receive information that is
typically provided in a sale process. That agreement could include a reasonable
standstill to give time for such a process. We have been very clear that if you
engage and provide information, we would be in a position to increase our offer
and I am confident that we will be able to offer significant additional value.
We believe that we are in a position to provide more value than any other party
given the strategic importance of the transaction to us.
It has been two months since we first approached Medivation about a transaction.
The Medivation Board has had considerable time to review alternatives and to
prepare for a sale process. Given this, we believe that such a process could be
completed in a matter of weeks.
There have been published reports that you have signed confidentiality
agreements with other parties. If that is accurate, we cannot see how you have
not done so with us. If you have not signed confidentially agreements with
others as part of a sale process, then you are not doing what we are confident
your shareholders want, which is for Medivation to undertake a sale of
Medivation and to engage with Sanofi.
We again request that you engage in good faith with Sanofi as part of a sale
process. If you do that, we would not need to proceed with a consent
solicitation to remove and replace the Medivation directors.
Sincerely,
Olivier Brandicourt
Chief Executive Officer
About Sanofi's Nominees
Michael E. Campbell. Mr. Campbell served as a director of MeadWestvaco
Corporation from 2001 and as the lead independent director of MeadWestvaco
Corporation from 2007, in each case, until the effective date of the strategic
business combination of Rock-Tenn Company and MeadWestvaco Corporation, when he
became a director of WestRock. Mr. Campbell has been a member of WestRock's
Finance Committee and its Nominating and Governance Committee, in each case,
since July 2015. Mr. Campbell served as chairman, president and chief executive
officer of Arch Chemicals, Inc., which was a publicly traded global biocides
company, from 1999 until 2011. Prior to joining Arch Chemicals, Mr. Campbell was
executive vice president of Olin Corporation, from 1996 to 1999. Mr. Campbell
also served as a director of Milliken & Company from 2007 to 2015.
Barbara Deptula. Ms. Deptula has been a director of AMAG Pharmaceuticals since
September 2013, where she serves as a member of the Compensation Committee and
the chair of the Transaction Committee. She served as the Executive Vice
President of Business Development and Chief Corporate Development Officer of
Shire Plc. ("Shire"), a public biopharmaceutical company, from September 2004 to
June 2012. Prior to joining Shire, Ms. Deptula served as President of the
biotechnology division of SICOR, Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, from May
2003 to September 2004. Prior to SICOR, Inc., Ms. Deptula served as Senior Vice
President for Coley Pharmaceutical, a biotechnology company, from July 2000 to
May 2003. Prior to 2000, she held senior management positions in public and
private pharmaceutical companies where Ms. Deptula focused on marketing, product
development, licensing and business development, including US Bioscience, Inc.,
Schering Plough International, Lederle Laboratories, a division of American
Cyanamid Co., U.S.A., and Genetics Institute. Ms. Deptula also served as a
member of the Board of Directors of CombinatoRx, Incorporated, now Zalicus,
Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, from December 2005 to December 2009.
Wendy E. Lane. Ms. Lane has been chair of Lane Holdings, Inc., an investment
firm, since 1992. Prior to forming Lane Holdings, Inc., Ms. Lane worked in
investment banking for 15 years, initially at Goldman, Sachs & Co. from 1977 to
1980 and subsequently as a Principal and Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin
and Jenrette Securities Corporation from 1981 to 1992. Ms. Lane has been an
independent director at MSCI Inc. since March 10, 2015. Ms. Lane served on the
board of directors of Willis Group Holdings from April 21, 2004 to January
4, 2016, when the entity merged with Towers Watson. Ms. Lane currently serves as
a director of Willis Towers Watson, where she holds roles as the chair of the
company's Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee. Ms.
Lane is also currently a director of UPM-Kymmene Corporation, where she serves
on the Audit Committee, and the privately held Al-Dabbagh Group Holding Company
Limited. Ms. Lane was previously a director of Laboratory Corporation of America
from 1996 to 2014, and has served on eight public company boards.
Ronald S. Rolfe. Mr. Rolfe is a retired Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP,
a premier law firm in the United States, where he practiced until his retirement
in December 2010. Mr. Rolfe's practice spanned the world and included corporate
governance, securities, antitrust and commercial litigation and arbitration for
U.S. and international clients. Mr. Rolfe began as an Associate with Cravath in
1970 and became Partner in 1977. He also served as Law Clerk to the Honorable
Marvin E. Frankel, U.S. District Court Judge in the Southern District of New
York, in 1969. Mr. Rolfe currently serves on the boards of directors of public
companies Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation since 2013, where Mr. Rolfe is a
member of the Environmental, Health & Safety Committee and Nominating and
Governance Committee; Berry Plastics Group, Inc. since 2013, where Mr. Rolfe is
the chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of
the Audit Committee; Time Inc. since 2014, where Mr. Rolfe is the chair of the
Audit and Finance Committee and a member of the Nominating and Governance
Committee; and Reynolds American Inc. since 2014, where Mr. Rolfe has served on
the Audit and Finance Committee and a is a member of the Corporate Governance,
Nominating and Sustainability Committee and Compensation and Leadership
Development Committee. He also currently serves on the board of private company
Advanced Assessment Systems, Inc.
Steven J. Shulman. Mr. Shulman has served as managing partner of Shulman Family
Ventures, a private equity firm since 2008. Mr. Shulman served as an operating
partner at Water Street Health Partners, a healthcare-focused private equity
firm, from 2008 until March 2015. From 2008 until December 2013, Mr. Shulman
served as operating partner at Tower Three Partners LLC, a private equity firm.
From December 2002 to February 2008, Mr. Shulman served as chairman and chief
executive officer of Magellan Health Services, a publicly-traded specialty
healthcare management organization. From 2000 to 2002, he served as chairman and
chief executive officer of Internet Healthcare Group, an early-stage healthcare
services and technology venture fund that he founded. From 1997 to 1999, Mr.
Shulman served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Prudential
Healthcare, Inc., a healthcare services provider that is now part of publicly-
traded Aetna, Inc. He currently serves as chairman of Accretive Health, Inc., a
publicly-traded service and technology provider to healthcare providers and
CareCentrix, Inc., a privately-held at-home healthcare provider, positions he
has held since 2014 and 2008, respectively. Mr. Shulman currently serves as a
director of Healthmarkets, Inc., a privately-held technology-enabled health
insurance marketplace, Quantum Health, Inc., a privately-held healthcare
coordination and consumer navigation company, MedImpact Healthcare Systems,
Inc., a privately-held pharmacy benefit manager, and Facet Technologies, LLC, a
privately-held microsampling sharps products provider, positions he has held
since 2006, 2013, 2013 and 2011, respectively. Mr. Shulman served as chairman of
Health Management Associates, Inc., a healthcare services provider that is now
part of publicly-traded Community Health Systems, Inc., from 2013 to 2014. Mr.
Shulman also served on the board of Access MediQuip, LLC, a privately-held
surgical and implant management solutions company, from April 2009 to May 2015
and Digital Insurance, Inc., a privately-held employee benefits agency, from
1999 to 2013.
Charles P. Slacik. Mr. Slacik was Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice
President of Finance of Beckman Coulter Inc., a leading manufacturer of
biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies, from October 2006 to
June 2011 and was responsible for all aspects of financial management and
information technology. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Slacik served as Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an
integrated global pharmaceutical company engaged in the development,
manufacturing, marketing, sale and distribution of generic, brand and biologic
pharmaceutical products. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Slacik served as Senior Vice
President and Chief Financial officer of C.R. Bard, Inc., a developer and
manufacturer of medical technologies in the fields of vascular, urology,
oncology and surgical specialty products. Mr. Slacik currently serves on the
board of directors of Quidel Corp. and Sequenom, Inc., where he holds the
position as chair of the Audit Committee for both companies. Mr. Slacik was a
member of the board of directors and chair of the Audit Committee of STAAR
Surgical from 2012 to 2015.
James L. Tyree. Mr. Tyree is the co-founder and managing partner of Tyree &
D'Angelo Partners, a private equity investment firm. During the last fifteen
years, Mr. Tyree has held numerous executive positions at Abbott Laboratories,
including Corporate Vice President Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Products Group
Business Development, Senior Vice President Global Nutrition and Executive Vice
President Global Pharmaceuticals. He retired as President of Abbott
Biotechnology Ventures in March 2012. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Tyree was the
President of SUGEN, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on oncology. Earlier
in his career, Mr. Tyree held management positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb,
Pfizer and Abbott. Mr. Tyree is a member of the Council of Advisors of the
University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. Mr. Tyree serves as an
independent director of SonarMed, Genelux, ChemoCentryx and Innovia.
David A. Wilson. Mr. Wilson has served as a director of CoreSite Realty
Corporation since September 2010, where he holds the position of chair of its
Audit Committee and is a member of its Compensation Committee. Mr. Wilson is the
former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Graduate Management
Admission Council (the "Council"), which position he held from 1995 until his
retirement in December 2013. Mr. Wilson served as Senior Advisor to the Council
from December 2013 to June 2014. The Council is a $150.0 million enterprise that
is the owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test, the GMAT. Prior to
1995, he was a Managing Partner and National Director for Professional
Development at Ernst & Young LLP, a public accounting firm. He is a Chartered
Accountant in Canada and a Certified Public Accountant in the United States. Mr.
Wilson served on the board of directors of Laureate Education, Inc. from 2002 to
2007, where he chaired the Audit Committee and served as a member of the
Nominating and Governance Committee and the Conflicts Committee, and of Terra
Industries, Inc. from 2009 to 2010, where he served on the Audit Committee. Mr.
Wilson served on the board of directors of Barnes and Noble, Inc. from 2010
through 2015 and chaired its Audit Committee from 2011 through 2015. In August
2015, Mr. Wilson joined the board of directors of Barnes & Noble Education,
Inc., chairing its Audit Committee and serving as a member of its Nominating and
Governance Committee. He presently serves on the Board of Trustees of Johnson &
Wales University and serves as the chair of its Audit Committee. In 2015, Mr.
Wilson was included in the National Association of Corporate Directors' list of
100 most influential directors and governance-related professionals.
About Sanofi
Sanofi, a global healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes
therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi is organized into five
global business units: Diabetes and Cardiovascular, General Medicines and
Emerging Markets, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Pasteur and Merial. Sanofi is listed in
Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).
Sanofi Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements
are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include
projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding
plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future financial
results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and
statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are
generally identified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "believes",
"intends", "estimates", "plans" and variations of these words or comparable
words. Although Sanofi's management believes that the expectations reflected in
such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that
forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the
control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-
looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among
other things, risks that Sanofi will ultimately not pursue a transaction with
Medivation or Medivation will reject engaging in any transaction with Sanofi, if
a transaction is negotiated between Sanofi and Medivation, risks related to
Sanofi's ability to complete the acquisition on the proposed terms, the
possibility that competing offers will be made, other risks associated with
executing business combination transactions, such as the risk that the
businesses will not be integrated successfully, that such integration may be
more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected or that the expected
benefits of the acquisition will not be realized, risks related to future
opportunities and plans for the combined company, including uncertainty of the
expected financial performance and results of the combined company following
completion of the proposed acquisition, disruption from the proposed
acquisition, making it more difficult to conduct business as usual or maintain
relationships with customers, employees or suppliers, and the possibility that
if the combined company does not achieve the perceived benefits of the proposed
acquisition as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by financial analysts or
investors, the market price of Sanofi's shares could decline, as well as other
risks related Sanofi's and Medivation's respective businesses, including the
ability to grow sales and revenues from existing products, competition,
including potential generic competition, the ability to protect intellectual
property and defend patents, regulatory obligations and oversight, the
uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and
analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as
the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or
biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well
as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the
availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the absence of
guarantee that the product candidates if approved will be commercially
successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic
alternatives, the Group's ability to benefit from external growth opportunities,
trends in exchange rates and prevailing interest rates, the impact of cost
containment initiatives and subsequent changes thereto, the average number of
shares outstanding as well as those discussed or identified in the public
filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under
"Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements"
in Sanofi's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015.
Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.
Additional Information
This communication does not constitute an offer to buy or solicitation of an
offer to sell any securities. No tender offer for the shares of Medivation
("Medivation") has commenced at this time. In connection with the proposed
transaction Sanofi ("Sanofi") may file tender offer documents or other documents
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). This communication is
not a substitute for any tender offer document or other document Sanofi may file
with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. On May 25, 2016,
Sanofi filed a preliminary consent solicitation statement and accompanying WHITE
consent card with the SEC with respect to the solicitation of written consents
of Medivation stockholders (including any amendments and supplements, the
"Consent Solicitation Statement"). This communication is not a substitute for
the definitive consent solicitation statement that Sanofi intends to file with
the SEC or any other documents which Sanofi may file with the SEC in connection
with the consent solicitation. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF MEDIVATION ARE
URGED TO READ THESE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR
ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONSENT SOLICITATION AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION, AS
APPLICABLE. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of
these documents (if and when available) and other documents filed with the SEC
by Sanofi through the web site maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.
Certain Information Regarding Participants
Sanofi and certain of its directors and senior management may be deemed
participants in the solicitation of consents. You can find information about
Sanofi's directors and senior management in its annual report on Form 20-F for
the year ended December 31, 2015, which was filed with the SEC on March
4, 2016. In addition, you can find additional information regarding the
potential participants in the solicitation of consents in the Consent
Solicitation Statement. These documents are available free of charge at the
SEC's web site at www.sec.gov.
Contacts:
Media Relations Investor Relations
Jack Cox and Laurence Bollack George Grofik
Tel. : +33 (0)1 53 77 46 46 Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 77 45 45
mr(at)sanofi.com ir(at)sanofi.com
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher Innisfree
Joele Frank, Andy Brimmer or Jim Golden Scott Winter or Larry Miller
Tel: +1-212-355-4449 Tel : +1-212-750-5833
Press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/152918/R/2015367/747233.pdf
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Sanofi via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#2015367]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 25.05.2016 - 13:09 Uhr
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