CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Transkaryotic
Therapies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TKTX) today announced that TKT stockholders approved
the acquisition by Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc. (LSE: SHP, Nasdaq: SHPGY,
TSX: SHQ) for $37 per share in cash, or $1.6 billion in aggregate value, at
the special meeting of stockholders by voting to adopt the merger agreement
that the company entered into with Shire on April 21, 2005. The transaction
is expected to close July 28, 2005.
Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Chairwoman of the Board of TKT said, "We are
extremely pleased with the outcome of today's TKT vote and that the
stockholders of TKT agree that the acquisition by Shire delivers full, fair
and immediate cash value to our stockholders."
The Inspector of Election certified the following voting results with
respect to the proposed Shire acquisition: 18,741,994 shares or approximately
52.6% of the shares entitled to vote voted "for" the adoption of the merger
agreement, 9,890,989 shares or approximately 27.7% voted "against", and 47,416
shares or approximately 0.1% "abstained".
TKT also announced that it has received written demands for appraisal from
stockholders with respect to 12,318,765 shares of TKT common stock which
represented approximately 34.6% of the outstanding shares of TKT common stock
as of the record date.
About TKT
Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company primarily
focused on researching, developing and commercializing treatments for rare
diseases caused by protein deficiencies. Within this focus, the company
markets Replagal(TM), an enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease, and is
developing treatments for Hunter syndrome and Gaucher disease. In addition to
its focus on rare diseases, TKT intends to commercialize Dynepo(TM), its Gene-
Activated(R) erythropoietin product for anemia related to kidney disease, in
the European Union. TKT was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, with additional operations in Europe, Canada and South America.
Additional information about TKT is available on the company's website at
http://www.tktx.com.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the
proposed transaction between Shire and TKT, and statements regarding the
company's financial outlook, as well as statements about future expectations,
beliefs, goals, plans or prospects, including statements containing the words
"believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "estimates," "intends,"
"should," "could," "will," "may," and similar expressions. There are a number
of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including the failure of
TKT and Shire to consummate the proposed merger for any reason, and including
other factors set forth under the caption "Certain Factors That May Affect
Future Results" in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended March 31, 2005, which are on file with the SEC and which factors are
incorporated herein by reference. While the company may elect to update
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the company
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if its expectations
change.
Gene-Activated(R) is a registered trademark and Replagal(TM) is a
trademark of Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. Dynepo(TM) is a trademark of
Sanofi-Aventis SA.
For More Information Contact:
Justine E. Koenigsberg
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(617) 349-0271
Daniella M. Lutz
Manager, Corporate Communications
(617) 349-0205
SOURCE Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.tktx.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990913/TKTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/120657.html
CONTACT:
Justine E. Koenigsberg, Senior Director,
Corporate Communications, +1-617-349-0271, or Daniella M. Lutz,
Manager, Corporate Communications, +1-617-349-0205, both of
Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc.
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