Goldshield directors trump rivals’ bid

Goldshield’s executive directors tabled a £169m bid for the generic drugs group yesterday, trumping an earlier offer from the company’s former boss.

The directors, who are being financed by the buyout group HgCapital, also revealed that they had bought 6.1 million shares in the market at the offer price and had secured acceptances from investors with another 8.7 milllion shares, giving their bid the backing of more than 40 per cent of Goldshield’s shareholders.

The 460p a share cash offer beats a 440p bid made last week by Goldshield’s former chief executive, Ajit Patel, and the Israeli Fuhrer family, which owns another generic pharmaceuticals company, Neopharm.

Goldshield’s independent directors, who are considering both bids, said they would make an announcement in due course, noting that an existing agreement with the Fuhrers and Mr Patel prevent them from recommending a rival bid for five business days.

Shares in Goldshields closed up 0.6 per cent at 471p shortly before the bid was announced to the market last night.