BUZZ-Arbutus climbs after unveiling buyback from Moderna settlement proceeds
ABUS•Arbutus shares rise after announcing buyback
- Shares of drug developer Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS.O) rose 11.2% to $5.31 in premarket trading.
- The company said it plans to buy back up to $230 million worth of its shares through a modified Dutch auction.
- The money for the stock buyback comes from a recent patent lawsuit settlement with Moderna (MRNA.O) over lipid nanoparticle technology.
- Arbutus expects to pay between $5.00 and $5.75 per share, with the purchase process starting around Aug. 24 and expiring around Sept. 29, subject to regulatory approvals.
- The stock closed at $4.77 on Thursday, implying a premium of roughly 5% to 21%.
- Arbutus is also continuing to pursue similar patent lawsuits against Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE).
- At Thursday's close, the $230 million buyback represented about 24% of Arbutus' market value of roughly $943.73 million, according to LSEG data.
- As of the last close, the stock was down 0.8% year to date.
