Shareholder Sues Abraxis Over Sale

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Abraxis BioScience Inc. has been sued by a shareholder who claims the company’s sale to Celgene Corp. for $2.9 billion is a bad deal for minority shareholders.

A shareholder named Michael K. Page filed the suit Thursday, claiming that Abraxis Executive Chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong sold his company too cheaply to Celgene, a Summit, N.J. maker of cancer and immune-inflammatory drugs. The suit claims that Abraxis is worth more than $3.5 billion, based on the potential of its breast cancer drug Abraxane and prospects for its pipeline.

Soon-Shiong, founder of the Los Angeles cancer drug maker, controls more than 82 percent of shares and will get about $2.5 billion in cash and Celgene stock in the sale.

The sale gives Abraxis shareholders $58 a share and 0.26 shares of Celgene stock for each of their shares. That values the sale at $71.93 per share based on Celgene’s share price before the June 30 merger announcement.

Shareholders will share in future milestone payments if Abraxane gets approved to treat other types of cancers now under study. Speculation as to the value of those payments have kept Abraxis stock above $74 since the deal was announced.

Several other law firms specializing in shareholder lawsuits have announced investigations into whether the company was sold for too little. The firms include Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, Howard G. Smith, Robbins Umeda LLP, Finkelstein Thompson LLP.

Abraxis shares on Friday closed up 13 cents, or less than a percent, to $74.25 on the Nasdaq.

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