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Shareholders of Icos Corp. voted 77 percent to 33 percent today to accept Eli Lilly and Co.’s $2.3 billion offer for the developer of the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis, according to Bloomberg.
Analysts quoted by Bloomberg said shareholders were so divided about the deal that they couldn’t predict whether Lilly would succeed. Only three times since 2000 have shareholders rejected a merger proposal put forward by their company.
Lilly raised its price in December after Icos shareholders openly criticized an initial, $2.1 billion offer made in October as being too low. The Indianapolis pharmaceutical maker wants control of its joint-venture partner to gain total sales of the erectile-dysfunction drug.
Most of the 700 employees of the Bothell, Wash., company have been told they will lose their jobs as Lilly assimilates many of the functions.
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