By Colin Kellaher
Jounce Therapeutics Inc. on Monday said it has agreed to be acquired by one of its largest shareholders and scrapped plans to combine with the U.K.'s Redx Pharma PLC.
The Cambridge, Mass., clinical-stage immunotherapy company said it has accepted a sweetened bid from Concentra Biosciences LLC, an entity controlled by Tang Capital Partners LP, to acquire the Jounce shares Tang doesn't already own for $1.85 apiece in cash, along with non-tradeable contingent value rights tied to proceeds from any license or disposition of some of its legacy programs.
The purchase price represents a nearly 23% premium to Friday's closing price of $1.51 for Jounce and a roughly 75% premium to its closing price of $1.06 on March 14, before Jounce disclosed an initial bid of $1.80 a share from Tang, which already owns a 10.2% stake in the company.
Jounce said it plans to eliminate 84% of its workforce over the next month, with its remaining employees focused on completing the sale of the company and maximizing the value of the contingent value rights.
Jounce also said its board is no longer recommending the proposed all-stock merger with Redx that would have left Jounce shareholders owning 37% of the combined company.
Trading in shares of Jounce was halted premarket on Monday.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2023 09:31 ET (13:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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