Today’s chart-topper is Akouos Inc. (NASD: AKUS), which jumped 89.16% to trade at $13.26 at the most recent check in premarket trading before a takeover agreement.
Who has been taking over AKUS?
Akouos (AKUS) and Eli Lilly have announced a formal agreement for Lilly to buy Akouos.
3 Tiny Stocks Primed to Explode
The world's greatest investor — Warren Buffett — has a simple formula for making big money in the markets. He buys up valuable assets when they are very cheap. For stock market investors that means buying up cheap small cap stocks like these with huge upside potential.
We've set up an alert service to help smart investors take full advantage of the small cap stocks primed for big returns.
Click here for full details and to join for free
Sponsored
- In order to meet the requirements of people with debilitating hearing loss throughout the world, AKUS has combined expertise in otology, inner ear medicine delivery, and gene therapy.
- The leading product candidate for Akouos, AK-OTOF, uses gene therapy to address hearing loss brought on by mutations in the otoferlin gene (OTOF).
- Other pipeline programs target a variety of inner ear disorders and include AK-CLRN1 for Usher Type 3A, an autosomal recessive condition marked by progressive loss of both hearing and vision, GJB2 (which encodes connexin 26) for a typical type of monogenic deafness and hearing loss, and AK-antiVEGF for the treatment of vestibular schwannoma.
- In accordance with the agreement, Lilly will buy all of the AKUS shares still in circulation for $12.50 in cash plus one contingent value right (CVR) of up to $3.00 per share. The boards of directors for both businesses have given their approval to the agreement.
Conditions of the Deal:
Lilly will launch a tender offer to buy all of the outstanding shares of Akouos for $12.50 per share in cash (a total of around $487 million), which is due upon close. A non-tradeable contingent value right (“CVR”) that entitles the holder to an extra $3.00 in cash was also included in the agreement, bringing the total consideration paid to as much as $15.50 per share in cash (interest-free) and bringing the aggregate amount to as much as $610 million.
How will the deal affect AKUS?
When compared to the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of AKUS common stock ending on October 17, 2022, the final trading day preceding the announcement of the deal, the acquisition price payable at closure reflects a premium of around 121%. The Akouos Board of Directors unanimously advises that stockholders participate in the tender offer by submitting their shares. A few Akouos (AKUS) investors have also consented to tender their shares in the tender offer, beneficially holding around 26% of AKUS’s outstanding common stock.
