Finance Watch: Brent Saunders Plots Return To Deal-Making With A SPAC IPO

Public Company Edition: The former Allergan CEO is taking a special purpose acquisition corporation public to generate $460m for deals in familiar biopharma niches. Also, IPOs are expected to keep up a robust pace in the fall and Albireo raises $160m on the success of its drug for pediatric liver diseases.

The question of where former Allergan plc CEO Brent Saunders would land next after the company was sold to AbbVie Inc. earlier this year for $63bn was answered in a 10 September filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Vesper Healthcare Acquisition Corp., which said it wants to raise up to $460m in a forthcoming initial public offering to buy pharmaceutical companies in market niches where the executive has a history of making deals.

Miami Beach, FL-based Vesper is a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) and Saunders is its chairman, CEO and president. The...

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