Faulding Buys Minority Interests In US Subsid

Australia's F H Faulding is planning to buy out the minority interestsin its 71%-owned US subsidiary Faulding Inc, for $13.50 per share, or about $79 million. The deal is subject to approval by minority holders in the US unit, a meeting of whom is scheduled for mid-December.

The acquisition will be funded in part by a one-for-eight rights issue, which will raise A$107 million ($76.9 million). The issue will be pitched at A$6.80 per share and would result in the issue of 15.7 million shares, which would not rank for the 1997 final dividend, according to Reuters. The transaction is being structured as a reverse stock split in which Faulding Inc shareholders, other than F H Faulding, would receive cash for all their shares.