Pharmaceutical Product Development Agrees to be Acquired by Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman (PPDI)

Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. (NASDAQ: PPDI), a global contact research organization offering drug discovery, development and lifecycle management services, will become a privately held company after it entered into a definitive agreement under which it will be acquired by affiliates of Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman.

Under the terms of agreement, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman will acquire PPD in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.9 billion, or $33.25 per share. The offer price represents a premium of 29.6% over PPD shares’ closing price on September 30, 2011.

The agreement has been approved by PPD’s Board of Directors. The company will hold a special meeting with its shareholders to get their approval for the transaction.

The terms of the agreement allow Wilmington, North Carolina-based PPD to solicit acquisition proposals from third parties for a period of 30 calendar days from the date of the agreement. The company may also at any time respond to unsolicited proposals, which the Board identifies as superior proposal to that of Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011 and on completion; PPD will become a privately held company.

Commenting on the agreement, Fred Eshelman, Founder and Executive Chairman of PPD, said that the sale of PPD to Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman offers an attractive return for shareholders, while also ensuring a secure foundation and commitment to investment, innovation and excellence for the company’s clients and employees as it builds on its 25-year history of success. Carlyle Group’s managing director and the head of its healthcare group, Karen H. Bechtel said that PPD’s management team and Fred Eshelman built a leading and extremely high quality global research and service organization.

PPD shares are soaring at the start of trading today following the announcement of the agreement. At last check, the stock was trading 25.68% higher at $32.25. It touched a high of $32.63 in early trading.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.