Vec­tura board says it will unan­i­mous­ly back a Philip Mor­ris takeover

Philip Mor­ris is one step clos­er to tak­ing over res­pi­ra­to­ry drug­mak­er Vec­tura, as the UK-based com­pa­ny’s board of di­rec­tors says it will unan­i­mous­ly back the to­bac­co gi­ant’s $1.5 bil­lion bid.

The board said it con­sid­ers Philip Mor­ris’ of­fer “fair and rea­son­able,” ac­cord­ing to a state­ment. The cig­a­rette com­pa­ny, best known for its Marl­boro prod­ucts, of­fered 165 pence per share, beat­ing out a 155 pence per share of­fer by the pri­vate eq­ui­ty firm The Car­lyle Group.

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