Bristol-Myers Completes $2.1B Tender For Medarex

NEW YORK (AP) — Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. on Tuesday completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Medarex Inc., a biotech drugmaker developing treatments for immune system diseases and cancer.

Medarex is now a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Bristol-Myers and its shares will no longer trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Bristol-Myers offered $16 per share for Medarex in July, and earlier on Tuesday it said it completed its tender offer for Medarex shares.

More than 90 percent of shares were tendered in favor of Bristol-Myers' offer, which meant Medarex shareholders did not need to hold a meeting or a vote on the deal. Medarex shares were trading at $8.40 before the Bristol-Myers bid, making the offer a 90 percent premium.

Prior to the offer, he companies were collaborating on the drug candidate ipilimumab, which is intended to treat advanced skin cancer. Ipilimumab is in late-stage clinical testing. Medarex gets royalties from sales of three drugs and is testing about a dozen other drugs on humans on its own and through partnerships with other drug companies.

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb were unchanged at $21.69 in aftermarket trading. The stock fell 44 cents, or 2 percent, during the regular session.

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