Just after PureTech Health confirmed it was in talks with Nordic Capital regarding a possible buyout, Nordic quickly set the record straight with its own announcement that it does not intend to make an offer for the company.
PureTech set out to quell “recent press speculation” with a Monday afternoon confirmation that it was in discussions with Nordic Capital about a possible cash offer to take PureTech’s entire share capital, though it added in the announcement that there "can be no certainty" that any firm offer would be made.
The disclosure was issued “without the consent” of Nordic Capital, PureTech noted, and triggered a 28-day window for the interested party to announce a firm intention to either make an offer or a declaration that it won’t be making an offer.
Nordic Capital was quick to opt for the latter. In its own announcement on the London Stock Exchange mere minutes later, the private equity firm made clear that it “does not intend” to make an offer after its initial private proposal was rejected by PureTech’s board.
However, the firm can still make an offer within the next six months under certain circumstances dictated by the U.K.’s City Code on takeovers and mergers.
PureTech, which has founded several biotechs—including now-Bristol Myers Squibb-owned Karuna Therapeutics—has been in a similar situation before.
In 2022, the company divulged potential merger talks with Nektar Therapeutics only to flip the switch less than a week later with an announcement that its prior statement “created the impression that discussions were more advanced than they were.” According to a source close to the negotiations, word on the potential deal had leaked to a U.K. message board, requiring PureTech to quickly address the situation in accordance with U.K. laws, Fierce Biotech reported at the time.
These days, PureTech is busy working on its idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis candidate deupirfenidone, a deuterated form of Roche’s approved pulmonary fibrosis med Esbriet that represents the company’s only internal drug program. The med recently hit its primary endpoint in a phase 2 trial.
PureTech’s biggest success to date is likely the development of schizophrenia med Cobenfy, which was known as KarXT until its FDA approval last fall, which followed BMS’ $14 billion Karuna buyout earlier in 2024.