Tobacco giant loses out in deal for Vectura

INHALER maker Vectura has jumped ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ after it snubbed an offer from Philip Morris in favour of a private equity bid.

Vectura, which specialises in making inhaled medicines, agreed to a 150p-per-share offer from the cigarette giant last month.

But it elbowed out the Malboromaker’s bid yesterday as US private equity giant Carlyle bowled in with a 155p challenge, valuing Vectura at £958m.

Carlyle said it had ‘over 30 years’ experience as an investor in healthcare, including in the pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical services sectors’.

Vectura has agreed to the deal, in yet another U-turn. It had originally backed Carlyle’s first 136p offer in May, before switching allegiance to Philip Morris and is now flopping back to Carlyle.

The private equity firm has also got backing from 11.2pc of Vectura’s investors, including Axa Investment Management.

The Philip Morris deal was controversial, as the tobacco titan wanted to use Vectura to help it create modern types of nonsmoking cigarettes as it rebranded as a ‘wellness company’.

But City veteran David Buik said there was ‘an element of out of the frying pan, into the fire’ to the latest Carlyle bid, as it comes at a time when the UK’s stock market is being plundered by private equity. Buik said: ‘We are the only Western economy which is fully free. I can’t remember the last time a company of consequence was sold overseas by France or Germany, or even the US.

‘We seem to be a little gung-ho. We need a bit of protectionism otherwise we’ll find we are left with nothing of consequence, with no industry and no jobs.’

Carlyle said it would maintain Vectura’s headquarters in the UK.