Diurnal Group PLC on Tuesday said it agreed to a £48.3 million takeover from US biopharmaceutical firm Neurocrine Biosciences Inc.

Under the cash acquisition, Diurnal shareholders will be entitled to receive 27.5 pence for each Diurnal share. This is more than double the 11.25p Diurnal closing price on Friday. The stock was quoted at 26.50p at Tuesday midday in London.

The takeover is conditional on the approval of Diurnal shareholders. Diurnal directors consider the terms ‘fair and reasonable’ and have unanimously recommended the offer.

The acquisition is expected to complete during late October or early November.

San Diego, California-based Neurocrine uses neuroscience to advance medicines for neurological, endocrine, and psychiatric disorders. It has US-approved therapies for tardive dyskinesia, Parkinson’s disease, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids.

‘Diurnal and Neurocrine are highly complementary businesses, and we believe that Neurocrine’s financial and operational resources will substantially accelerate the development of a leading franchise in diseases of cortisol deficiency, benefiting physicians and patients globally,’ commented Chair Anders Harfstrand.

‘We believe that the acquisition is compelling for Diurnal’s shareholders given the risks associated with achieving Diurnal’s vision of creating a profitable business, in particular the ongoing commercial roll out of Diurnal’s products in Europe and the execution of key clinical studies, in addition to the substantial shareholder dilution that is likely to result from accessing the capital required to deliver this vision.’

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