Nordion To Be Bought By Sterigenics In US$727 Mln Deal

(RTTNews) - Nordion Inc. (NDN.TO, NDZ) said Friday that it has agreed to be bought by Sterigenics, a provider of sterilization services and a portfolio company of private equity firm GTCR LLC, in a deal valued at US$727 million.

Under the deal, Nordion shareholders will receive an aggregate cash consideration of US$11.75 per share. This represents a premium of about 13% to the company's closing stock price of US$10.41 per share on the NYSE on March 28.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of calendar 2014.

Upon closing of the deal, Nordion will operate as a standalone company within Sterigenics and will continue to operate under the Nordion name.

The Board of Directors of Nordion has unanimously approved the deal and recommends that Nordion shareholders vote in favor of the deal.

A termination fee of US$12 million would be payable to Sterigenics in certain circumstances, including if it fails to exercise its right to match in the context of a superior proposal supported by Nordion, and a reverse break fee of US$24 million would be payable by Sterigenics to Nordion if the deal is not completed in certain circumstances.