The transaction – which is expected to close in early December – will see Biotrial pay C$6m ($5.9m). Warnex will also be eligible to receive an additional payment if the adjusted revenues of the divested unit exceed C$6,000,000 this year.
The unit and its 100-strong workforce – which provide the pharmaceutical industry with a range of bioanalytical and bioequivalence testing services for trials. The move will leave Warnex with no operating divisions.
Michael Singer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Warnex, said: "The sale of the Bioanalytical Services division represents the final step in our process to resolve the challenges related to the balance sheet and eliminate all Company debt for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
If completed the sale will bring to an end a long running process that has seen Warnex sell its medical lab services business to Gamma-Dynacare Medical Laboratories in December 2010 and divest its analytical unit to NeoPharma in April this year after.
If the deal does go through Warnex's board will decide what to do with the company's remaining assets, which would mainly be the proceeds of the the Biotrial acquisition
US trial centre
In other news, Biotrial has announced plans to set up a new clinical trial centre in New Jersey at a cost of €15m.
CEO Jean-Marc Gandon told Les Echos that: “We bought the land required near a university hospital with which we are already working. The construction of this centre will soon start, it has local financial assistance in the amount of €4.6m.”
The French CRO expects the new facility to create 120 additional jobs, roughly half of its existing 250-stong workforce.