Stellar to acquire Tribute Pharmaceuticals
Tribute founder Rob Harris to lead merged firm
Canadian firm Stellar Pharmaceuticals has acquired all of the outstanding shares of Tribute Pharmaceuticals Canada and Tribute Pharma Canada, creating a leading North American specialist pharmaceutical company.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tribute's shareholders will be paid 13,000,000 common shares of Stellar, $1,000,000 on closing and $500,000 on 1 December 2012. They will also be entitled to an additional 2,000,000 common shares.
The combined unaudited revenues of the two firms for the 12-month period ending 31 October were approximately US$12m.
The international headquarters for the combined company will be in Milton, Ontario and Stellar shares will continue to trade under the Stellar name.
The firm’s current London, Ontario headquarters will remain as a branch office and in-house production facility. The acquisition will initially result in an expanded sales force and commercial team in Canada.
Arnold Tenney, Stellar’s interim president and ceo, will step down to be replaced by Rob Harris, president and ceo of Tribute.
Scott Langille, currently cfo of Tribute, has been appointed cfo of Stellar.
Janice Clarke has assumed the newly created position of vp of finance and administration for both firms.
Ann Hartshorn, currently vp of sales and marketing of Tribute, has become vp of marketing at Stellar.
‘The combination of the entities is designed to generate a sum greater than its parts,’ said Harris. ‘It is driven by strong and complementary business models and the combined companies will have the necessary efficiencies and resources to capture the full value of their growth potential.’
Harris said the initial focus of the merged company will be on accelerating Canadian sales growth for current products while maximising US and international licensing and partnership opportunities for Uracyst, a painful bladder treatment and NeoVisc for the treatment of osteoarthritic knee joints.