A British life-sciences company Abcam has been snapped up by a US medical giant in a £4.5bn deal, writes Emily Hawkins.
Danaher – one of the world’s largest suppliers of medical tools – announced it would pay $24 per share in cash for Abcam, which is based in Cambridge.
Abcam, which is listed on New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange, supplies medical research products including antibodies. The firm serves around 750,000 scientists across academia, research, government and biopharmaceutical organisations.
The takeover underscored concerns that British biotech companies are looking to the US market to help them flourish instead of staying in the United Kingdom.
Abcam is seen as one of the most successful British biotech firms and built a £46m headquarters in Cambridge in 2019. But in a blow for the London stock market, the company abandoned its listing on London’s junior AIM market in October 2020 and rushed to list in New York.
Although the Government has insisted that the country can become a life-sciences superpower, the City is struggling to keep up with competition from the US.
Ministers want to promote a golden triangle of university hubs – Cambridge, Oxford and London – as a global powerhouse, rivalling Boston and San Francisco.
British chip designer Arm is gunning for a record float valuation for a UK company when it lists in New York, possibly as early as next month.
Despite months of fervent lobbying from ministers to persuade Arm’s Japanese owners SoftBank to list in London as well as New York, the City was left empty-handed.
The boss of insurance giant Legal & General, Nigel Wilson, has called for more investment in British technology and life sciences.
He claimed the country’s successful creative industries should serve as inspiration.
Nigel, earlier this month, said: “The life-sciences and technology industries are five to ten years behind in terms of where we want them to be, and we need to invest a huge amount more in these industries.
“Where was Game Of Thrones mainly made? In the UK. Where was [Sky TV’s] Chernobyl made? That would be in the UK. It’s a huge opportunity and that can be an example of things we can do in other industries.”
