QLT Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI; TSX: QLT) announced that QLT USA, Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Allergan Sales, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN) to fully divest QLT's worldwide rights to Aczone, a prescription topical medicine approved in the United States and Canada for the treatment of acne vulgaris.
Under the terms of the agreement, QLT will receive a one-time cash payment of approximately US$150 million upon closing, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2008.
"The divestment of Aczone is a major milestone for QLT and this transaction demonstrates that our persistence in completing the work needed to remove the blood monitoring restriction from the Aczone label in the United States provided significant value for our shareholders," said Bob Butchofsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of QLT. "This transaction is the second in a series of planned asset sales that, once completed, we expect will enable us to return meaningful proceeds to our shareholders."
The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of both QLT and Allergan, respectively. Closing of the transaction is subject to antitrust clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and other customary closing conditions. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is acting as financial advisor to QLT in connection with the transaction.
The Aczone asset purchase agreement is the second agreement entered into by the Company to divest non-core assets since it announced its strategic restructuring earlier this year. Other assets offered for sale from QLT USA include Eligard and the Atrigel drug delivery system. On May 15, QLT announced that it had signed a sale and purchase agreement to sell the land and building comprising its corporate headquarters and an adjacent undeveloped parcel of land in Vancouver, British Columbia. Provided the closing conditions are removed within the time period provided under the sale and purchase agreement, closing of that transaction is expected to occur by mid-August. -- www.cnxmarketlink.com
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