Efforts to stop takeover of biotech firm Abcam dealt a blow

Efforts to stop the takeover of leading British biotech company Abcam suffered a blow after two leading shareholder advisory groups backed the deal.

Jonathan Milner, a leading British breast cancer specialist who founded Cambridge-based Abcam in 1998, is desperately trying to stop conglomerate Danaher with a £4.7 billion takeover.

He is the group’s second-largest investor with a 6.2 percent stake and emphasizes that Danaher’s offer undervalues ​​the company. He has called on investors to reject the deal, appoint him as CEO and dump the board.

Setback: Jonathan Milner desperately tries to hold off a bit from conglomerate Danaher in £4.7bn buyout

But his efforts suffered a setback last week when two of the city’s top advisory groups advised investors to back the acquisition.

PIRC advised shareholders to support the deal. Rival shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) previously said the takeover was “a superior alternative” to Milner’s proposal, which they claimed would create “risk and uncertainty.”