Mayne Pharma investors are calling for the sale of its women’s health and dermatology businesses in the US, after the federal government’s decision to block a takeover of the Adelaide-based company last year left them nursing heavy losses.
Key shareholders, including offshore hedge funds and activist investors who now make up more than 20 per cent of Mayne’s share register, are putting pressure on chairman Bruce Robinson to start a strategic review of the group’s assets.
This follows Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ shock move last year to block a $672 million takeover bid for Mayne by US private-equity backed Cosette on national interest grounds. Cosette had spent months in court trying to back out of the $7.40 per share offer, arguing that there had been a material adverse change in Mayne’s financial position.
Mayne shares now trade at less than half that amount, and investor frustration came to a head late last week when the company posted bleak fourth-quarter earnings.
“The company looks very undervalued when you consider that it is capped at just over $200 million, and it has $50 million in net cash plus property and a plant in Adelaide worth $60-$70 million,” said Anton Tagliaferro, a veteran funds manager, who holds the stock. He runs a small-cap fund called Fundamental Investment Management.
Source: https://www.afr.com/companies/healthcare-and-fitness/mayne-pharma-investors-push-for-break-up-after-blocked-takeover-bid-20260803-p60kvt