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JPMorgan Chase to Provide $60MM ABL to Acorda Therapeutics

January 19, 2016, 08:06 AM
Filed Under: Pharmaceuticals

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. entered into an agreement to acquire Biotie Therapies Corp. for €23.5680 per ADS in cash, or the equivalent of $25.60 per ADS based on an exchange rate of 1.0864 U.S. dollars to euros, which values Biotie at approximately $363 million. Concurrently, Acorda also received a commitment from JPMorgan Chase, N.A. for an asset-based loan facility for up to $60 million. The closing of this transaction is expected to occur within six weeks and is subject to customary closing conditions.
  
Acorda will obtain worldwide rights to tozadenant, an oral adenosine A2a receptor antagonist currently in Phase 3 development in Parkinson’s disease (PD). In a Phase 2b clinical trial, tozadenant reduced average daily OFF time as an adjunct to treatment regimens including levodopa/carbidopa.

The $363 million all-cash tender offer in Finland and the United States is unanimously recommended by Biotie’s Board of Directors. The transaction was also unanimously approved by Acorda’s Board of Directors. Subject to customary closing conditions, the tender offer is expected to be completed in the first or second quarter of 2016, and the acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016.

Concurrently, with the announcement of the Biotie transaction, Acorda has agreed to issue $75 million of common stock (the “Shares”) in a private placement transaction exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Acorda intends to use the net proceeds from the issuance of the Shares to fund, in part, the acquisition of Biotie described above. The issuance of the Shares is not contingent upon the consummation of the acquisition of Biotie or the terms of the acquisition. If the acquisition of Biotie is not consummated for any reason, the Company will use all of the net proceeds from the issuance of the Shares for general corporate purposes. The closing of the private placement is expected to occur in January 2016 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Lazard, MTS Health Partners and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis, Roschier, Covington & Burling LLP and Jones Day LLP served as legal advisors to Acorda in connection with this transaction. Guggenheim Securities served as Biotie Therapies’ financial advisors, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Hannes Snellman Attorneys Ltd. served as Biotie’s legal advisors.

Founded in 1995, Acorda Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies that improve the lives of people with neurological disorders.

Biotie Therapies is a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on developing therapeutics for central nervous system disorders. Its pipeline includes product candidates designed to address unmet medical needs in Parkinson’s disease and related dementia, other neurodegenerative indications and primary sclerosing cholangitis, an orphan fibrotic liver disease. In addition, Biotie has successfully developed a product for alcohol dependence that is being commercialized by Lundbeck and is a source of further potential milestone payments and ongoing royalties.







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