Consort abandons AMS takeover talks
QUOTED medical device business Consort Medical has walked away from a planned takeover of Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS), the Cheshire woundcare specialist.
AMS has already rejected two approaches from Consort and today the Hemel Hempstead firm said it was ending all talks because AMS would not allow it to carry out due diligence.
In a statement to the stock market it said: “Consort is unwilling to improve the terms of its indicative approaches, without the opportunity to undertake due diligence, and consequently has terminated all discussions with AMS.” The firm has not revealed how much it was planning to bid for AMS.
In an interim management statement Consort, which has a market value of around £100m – twice that of AMS, said it was planning to make a series of acquisitions and has said a tie-up with AMS would, “make good commercial and strategic sense… and would reward the shareholders of both companies.”
AMS’ main product is LiquiBand product, a tissue adhesive which is used to help heal wounds. After a tough first half, which saw the company slip into the red as a result of an abortive acquisition, trading has recovered.
In December the group said it had had a stong second half and last month it secured a distribution deal with US healthcare group Cardinal Health for LiquiBand.
