There are, generally, a handful of things that move interest in biotech stocks. Especially when a biotech like Abcam (NASDAQ:ABCM) suddenly blasts up over 13% in a trading day, like it did in Friday afternoon’s session. One of those things, in particular, is when someone’s interested in buying an entire company, and that seems to be what’s going on with Abcam today.
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Over the last few weeks, noted a Seeking Alpha report, Abcam has seen interest on the rise. Several different parties are interested in picking up this biotech firm, and Abcam is responding accordingly. It’s already engaged a set of advisors to pick through the offers and see if any of them are worth pursuing. Interestingly, this buyout interest comes at about the same time that Abcam’s founder, Jonathan Milner, is engaged in a proxy battle within the company itself.
To that end, Milner—who currently owns 6.3% of Abcam—is looking to get an “extraordinary general meeting” going. The board of directors released a statement roundly excoriating Milner, going so far as to encourage voters to vote against all resolutions proposed at the upcoming meeting. The board notes that Milner previously endorsed every company plan that he currently criticizes and that Milner seems to be targeting three specific individuals within the company that have “…played essential roles in overseeing Abcam’s transformation…”
While this tempest brews up, Abcam enjoys limited analyst support. With three Buy ratings and two Holds, Abcam stock is considered a Moderate Buy. However, with an average price target of $21.80, it comes with 0.86% downside risk.