Johannesburg - Actis LLP, a London-based private-equity firm, has proposed an offer for Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd. to rival a bid from Chilean drugmaker CFR Pharmaceuticals SA, two people familiar with the matter said.
Actis made a 70 rand ($7.02) per share offer to Adcock’s board in late July on condition it gets the same information as given to CFR Pharmaceuticals, one of the people said.
More than 80 percent of the offer would be in cash, the person said.
Adcock, the Johannesburg-based maker of drugs including Panado painkillers, said on July 3 it had entered exclusive talks with CFR after receiving a non-binding cash and shares bid valued at a potential 73.51 rand a share.
Adcock shares advanced as much as 4.6 percent and traded 1.9 percent higher at 67.30 rand as of 4:34 p.m. in Johannesburg, valuing the company at 11.8 billion rand.
The stock has advanced 25 percent this year.
Adcock declined to comment, according to Brunswick, which handles the communications for the company.
John van Wyk, head of Africa for Actis, declined to comment. - Bloomberg News