Varian Medical To Buy Australia's Sirtex Medical For $1.28 Bln - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Varian Medical Systems (VAR), a developer of cancer care solutions, announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Sirtex Medical Limited, an Australia-based global life sciences company focused on interventional oncology therapies, for A$28 per share in cash.

The deal represents a total equity purchase price for the acquisition of approximately A$1.59 billion or approximately $1.28 billion.

Varian expects this acquisition to be accretive to earnings per share in the first full fiscal year after the closing of the transaction.

The transaction, which is expected to close in late May 2018, is subject to the approval of the Sirtex shareholders, the Federal Court of Australia and other customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each company and the Sirtex Board of Directors has agreed to unanimously recommend that Sirtex shareholders approve the deal.

Dow Wilson, CEO of Varian, said, "This acquisition is the latest step in Varian's long-term strategy to become a global leader in multi-disciplinary integrated cancer care solutions. The combination of the two companies will expand the reach of the Sirtex platform by making it more broadly available to the clinical community."

Sirtex's lead product is a targeted internal radiation therapy for certain liver cancers. Approximately 80,000 doses of SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres have been supplied to treat patients with liver cancer at over 1,090 medical centers in over 40 countries.

Sirtex generated annual revenues of A$234mm in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. Sirtex has approximately 300 employees worldwide and maintains sales and distribution operations primarily in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Varian said it plans to finance the acquisition using cash on hand as well as proceeds from borrowings.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as financial advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright is acting as legal counsel to Varian.