MANDA Portfolio Addition: PharmaNet (PDGI)

PharmaNet Development Group Inc. (PDGI), a drug development services company, announced earlier today it has agreed to a $100 million acquisition by affiliates of JLL Partners Inc., a New York-based private equity investment firm. This is an all-cash deal set at $5 per PDGI share. The acquisition has the approval of the PDGI board and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.

The transaction, which values PharmaNet's stock at about $100 million, will be financed by a $250 million equity commitment from JLL. The company said the financing includes the funds to retire the $144 million principal of its outstanding convertible notes.

This looks like a solid deal to me so I picked up some PDGI shares for my MANDA (M&A) portfolio today for $4.60 giving a return of 8.7%.

Other MANDA news
MANDA component Rohm-Haas (ROH) yesterday declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41/share payable on March 2 to shareholders on record as of February 13. (So far in the portfolio, ROH has paid $1.23 per share in dividends.)

Company officials, miffed at acquiring company Dow Chemical's toe-dragging in regards to closing the deal, today sent a strong “Get your act together or else!” message to Dow's board. If push comes to shove, it doesn't look good for the big guy as the terms of the deal put all of the onus on Dow. On the flip side, you can't withdraw money from an empty bank, so where this deal stands at the moment is anyone's guess.

Here's the updated MANDA portfolio (click to enlarge table):