Encorium to sell US and Finnish units
The firm said that it has signed two non-binding letters of intent to sell the units to a “full-service internationally based contract research organization (CRO)” but did not provide any additional information.
The most recent quarter aside, Encorium has been struggling financially for the past year, suffering a marked annual revenue drop that forced it to halt plans to buy specialist oncology CRO Prologue Research International.
That announcement was followed by the departure of president Kenneth Borow, as well as the replacement of Kai Lindevall as CEO by David Ginsberg, who also took on the role of president. Lindevall moved aside to become executive chairman and two other board members - Scott Jenkins and Christopher Meshginpoosh, resigned.
Speaking about today’s announcement Ginsberg said: “Both purchasers are well-respected organizations with strong management teams and… we believe that transferring our assets… is in the best interest not only for our stockholders, but for our customers and employees as well.”
He went on to say that the “transactions will enable our project teams to remain wholly intact so as to continue to provide excellent service to our customers.”
The closing of each sale is subject to the completion of due diligence, execution of definitive agreements and the fulfilment of certain closing conditions, including, with respect to the sale of Encorium Oy, stockholder approval.
