Mayne Pharma seeks FIRB extension, consultation with Chalmers
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The news: The Takeovers Panel on Thursday received an application from Mayne Pharma Group requesting that its reluctant US suitor Cosette Pharmaceuticals agrees to seek feedback from Treasurer Jim Chalmers as to any undertakings that may be required in relation Mayne’s Salisbury Site to approve the transaction.
The context: Mayne Pharma is pushing to get its troubled takeover by Cosette over the line, despite the US group’s unprecedented efforts to walk from the buyout.
Chalmers, who will ultimately have the final say on the outcome of the takeover, shocked investors with his preliminary decision to block the deal on sovereign capability grounds after Cosette told the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) it would close Mayne’s manufacturing facility in Salisbury, South Australia.
Last Friday, Mayne told the exchange that Chalmers believes the protracted buyout "would be contrary to national interest", as FIRB reviews the proposed acquisition.
In Mayne’s application on Thursday, it requested that Cosette agree to meet with FIRB together with Mayne and to seek feedback from the Treasurer around what would be required to approve the scheme.
Mayne’s application submitted that “Cosette is leveraging knowledge of the likely discomfort FIRB has with the notion of job losses and loss of manufacturing capability in Australia, to seek cause with the FRIB Approval condition to fail, having exhausted other avenues to avoid completing the transaction.”
Mayne also requested that Cosette agree with FIRB to extend its statutory deadline to a date that allows FIRB time to make its decision and that if required, allow the scheme implementation deed (SID) to be extended beyond 20 November. Mayne put forward 19 December 2025 as a proposed new End Date under the SID.
Mayne said that it is seeking final orders including Cosette’s agreement to “any conditions reasonably required by the Treasurer in connection with the Salisbury Site that are not inconsistent with Cosette’s prior intentions disclosure in the Scheme Booklet.”
Mayne has previously flagged that Cosette is required under the SID to use its “best and reasonable endeavours” to get necessary approvals for the deal to be completed.
The news comes after the Financial Review reported that IDT Australia, an ASX-listed Australian pharmaceutical firm, has submitted a bid for Mayne Pharma’s Salisbury manufacturing facility. Sources told the Financial Review that IDT Australia made a non-binding indicative offer for the plant to Mayne on Thursday morning. Its proposal would keep the facility operational and the jobs on the books, they said.
