K&L Gates Advises on Cross-Border $1.3 Billion Pending Tender Offer for Veloxis Pharmaceuticals

Raleigh – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has advised Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S (OMX: VELO) on the pending tender offer of its shares by Asahi Kasei Pharma Denmark A/S, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Corporation (TYO: 3407), a Japanese public corporation listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Under the terms of the transaction agreement, Asahi Kasei Pharma Denmark A/S will make a recommended conditional voluntary public offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares and warrants in Veloxis totaling US$1.3 billion, with Veloxis shareholders and warrant holders representing 81.2% of the company’s share capital (on a fully diluted basis) having entered agreements to accept the offer.

A Danish company listed on NASDAQ Copenhagen, Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S is a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of transplant patients. Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S operates in the U.S. through Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary headquartered in Cary, N.C. 

“K&L Gates enjoyed working closely with Plesner Advokatpartnerselskab as Danish legal advisors and MTS Health Partners as Veloxis’ financial advisors to assist the company in reaching this transitional moment,” commented corporate partner Margaret Rosenfeld, who led the K&L Gates team that advised on the matter. “We have been impressed with the energy and abilities of the Veloxis management team when balancing a transaction touching multiple time zones and their regular commercial business operations. We look forward to continuing to support Veloxis as it works to complete the transaction.”

The K&L Gates cross-border, cross-platform team advised Veloxis on a broad range of areas that included M&A, securities law, corporate governance, FDA regulatory, benefits, employment, compliance, international trade regulation, insurance, and antitrust law, among others. In addition to Rosenfeld, the K&L Gates team included Raleigh partners Mikal Shaikh, Amy Wallace, and David Lindsay; Research Triangle Park partner Michael Hinckle; San Francisco partner Ali Nardali; Washington, D.C., partners Allen Bachman and Steven Hill; Brussels partner Francesco Carloni; Wilmington partner Lisa Stark; Pittsburgh partner Todd Gibson, and Charleston partner Jennifer Thiem, as well as a number of other lawyers.