1. In Vivo
  2. >>Business Strategy

Activist Shareholders Complicate Buyout Math

The efforts of an increasingly vocal group of activist shareholders, including Carl Icahn, Matrix Asset Advisors, Third Point, ValueAct, and Baker Brothers Advisors, to flush out the interest of strategic buyers has become compelling and increasingly commonplace.

It’s no secret: biotech stocks are often worth more – a lot more – to strategic buyers than to financial ones. Perhaps the clearest test of this hypothesis: since 2005, on average, private companies have been acquired for $79 million more—or 49% more—than the pre-money values of IPOs. (See Exhibit 1.) No wonder that virtually all IPOs today, notes Goldman Sachs investment banker Geoff Parker, are dual-track processes: they may not be publicly soliciting buyout offers, but their boards are all prepared for them.

But for companies not controlled by venture capitalists—whose only goal is to maximize returns as fast as they can—the gap between financial and strategic buyers has been harder to bridge....

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on In Vivo for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required
Start Free Trial

Already a subscriber?

More from Business Strategy

AI In Drug Discovery: The Patent Implications

 
• By David Wild

A Q&A with DeAnn Smith, partner and co-chair of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board Proceedings Practice Group at law firm Foley Hoag.

Is Advanced AI Revolutionizing Sales Enablement In Pharma?

 
• By Marina Hickson

Advanced AI is revolutionizing sales enablement by addressing training gaps and performance challenges. Used correctly, it can help to bridge the sales-marketing divide, accelerate ramp-up times and provide managers with data-driven insights.

Laying The Foundation And Overcoming Prerequisites To Establish AI Within Health Care

 
• By Mike King

As the health care industry undergoes a digital transformation, the integration of AI into Quality and Regulatory Management Systems is proving essential. The challenges for successful AI deployment emphasize the need for robust digital infrastructure, data literacy programs and privacy measures to enhance patient safety and commercial performance.

Aurion Biotech’s Ophthalmic Cell Therapy For The Masses

 
• By David Wild

Aurion Biotech is developing a cell therapy for corneal diseases that is cheap enough to produce and can be scaled that it should reach the masses in a way that other cell therapies cannot.

More from In Vivo

US Health System Redesign Critical, NAM’s Medical Experts Warn Trump Government

 
• By Ashley Yeo

The whirlwind back-and-forth on US tariffs and Robert F. Kennedy jr.’s plans to deregulate health care have become all-preoccupying, but the National Academy of Medicine was first to set out President Trump’s health administration priorities.

Podcast: “Powerful Yet Unexplored”: Commit Biologics Tackles The Complement System

 
• By Anabel Costa-Ferreira

Mikkel Wandahl Pederson, CEO and chief scientific officer at Commit Biologics, discussed the company’s mission to harness the powerful complement system for the treatment of serious diseases.

ML-Assisted Genetic Risk Score Predicts GLP-1 Adverse Events

 
• By David Wild

Phenomix Science presented new data at Digestive Disease Week 2025 showing its machine learning-assisted genetic risk score can predict nausea and side effects from GLP-1 receptor agonists, aiding personalized obesity treatment.