Charles River, WuXi call off $1.6B deal

Shareholder opposition has forced Charles River to call off its $1.6 billion plan to purchase China's WuXi PharmaTech. Despite CEO James Foster's assurances that the deal would bring up to $100 million in potential operational savings, several investors were never able to overcome their concerns that the deal wasn't in the company's best interests. Charles River has been expanding its Chinese operations for the past several years and had hoped to increase the size of its footprint in...

Charles River sweetens WuXi merger with ‘synergies’

Faced with some stiff opposition from investors arrayed against a proposed $1.6 billion merger of Charles River Laboratories and China's WuXi PharmaTech, the Massachusetts-based CRO is baiting its hooks for shareholders with the promise of up to $100 million in annual "synergies" if the deal goes through. "We are confident that our proposed combination with WuXi will create not only the world's premier early-stage contract research organization, but also significant additional shareholder...

Novartis CEO plans to keep China R&D ops in-house

While Charles River's $1.6 billion deal to buy WuXi PharmaTech may have put the spotlight on China's growing role on the global contract research stage, Novartis' new CEO insists the pharma giant plans to handle most of its own R&D work in China in-house. "It should be a strategy owned by Novartis and directed by Novartis," says Joe Jimenez, who is pushing ahead with plans to invest a billion dollars in a Shanghai R&D complex that will employ around 500 scientists--all on the company's...

Charles River Labs buys China’s WuXi for $1.6B

Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) is wagering $1.6 billion that the future of contract research organizations lies in China. The Boston-based CRO announced early today that it has struck a deal to buy WuXi PharmaTech for $21.25 a share in cash and stock. Charles River has been deeply involved in expanding its Chinese operations for the past several years. And this new deal will increase the size of its footprint in China considerably. "This transaction revolutionizes the contract...