R P Scherer Corp

Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. said it will buy R.P. Scherer Corp. for $2.4 billion in stock and assumed debt, getting the pharmaceuticals wholesaler into the business of making faster-acting versions of drugs. The move pushes Cardinal's planned $4-billion takeover of Orange-based rival Bergen Brunswig Corp. further into the background after a legal challenge by the Federal Trade Commission in March.

The children of R. P. Scherer Corp.'s founder said Monday they were planning to launch a proxy fight at the annual meeting to force a sale of the company, which makes soft gelatin capsules. The family ties between Scherer's board and the principal shareholders have set the stage for a messy fight. Karla Scherer Fink, the biggest stockholder and daughter of R. P. Scherer, is also the wife of Scherer president and chief executive Peter Fink, although she filed for a divorce in April.

Scherer to Go Private: R. P. Scherer Corp., a leading maker of gelatin capsules for drugs, medicines and vitamins, said it will go private in a leveraged buyout. The company did not price the transaction but sources close to Scherer valued it at $440 million. Scherer will be acquired by RPS Corp., a vehicle formed by investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton Holdings Inc. Scherer, based in Troy, Mich., said it decided Sept. 30 to seek a buyer for the company. Sealed bids were opened last Wednesday and negotiations with Shearson led to Monday's deal.

Wilber Hadley Mack, 78, has retired as chairman of R. P. Scherer Corp., Troy, Mich. He had been chairman since 1980. R. P. Scherer manufactures gelatin capsules for drugs.

Scherer to Go Private: R. P. Scherer Corp., a leading maker of gelatin capsules for drugs, medicines and vitamins, said it will go private in a leveraged buyout. The company did not price the transaction but sources close to Scherer valued it at $440 million. Scherer will be acquired by RPS Corp., a vehicle formed by investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton Holdings Inc. Scherer, based in Troy, Mich., said it decided Sept. 30 to seek a buyer for the company. Sealed bids were opened last Wednesday and negotiations with Shearson led to Monday's deal.

Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. said it will buy R.P. Scherer Corp. for $2.4 billion in stock and assumed debt, getting the pharmaceuticals wholesaler into the business of making faster-acting versions of drugs. The move pushes Cardinal's planned $4-billion takeover of Orange-based rival Bergen Brunswig Corp. further into the background after a legal challenge by the Federal Trade Commission in March.

Bergen Brunswig Corp., the third-largest U.S. drug wholesaler, said it will purchase closely held J.M. Blanco Inc. for an undisclosed price to expand into Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Blanco, based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, is the largest pharmaceutical distributor in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with revenue of more than $200 million, Bergen said. The company will operate as a separate subsidiary of Orange-based Bergen after the transaction closes in January.

Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that it considered, but rejected, using a new tamper-resistant capsule in 1984 after seven cyanide deaths in Chicago and before a cyanide death this month in New York. Johnson & Johnson said it found the technology did not provide a good enough solution to possible tampering and decided not to use it.

Wilber Hadley Mack, 78, has retired as chairman of R. P. Scherer Corp., Troy, Mich. He had been chairman since 1980. R. P. Scherer manufactures gelatin capsules for drugs.

The children of R. P. Scherer Corp.'s founder said Monday they were planning to launch a proxy fight at the annual meeting to force a sale of the company, which makes soft gelatin capsules. The family ties between Scherer's board and the principal shareholders have set the stage for a messy fight. Karla Scherer Fink, the biggest stockholder and daughter of R. P. Scherer, is also the wife of Scherer president and chief executive Peter Fink, although she filed for a divorce in April.

Corporate takeover artists have their pencils poised, ready to tick off names of targets. Expansion-oriented companies have their own acquisition plans, and executives nervous about low stock prices are mulling restructurings. But the looming question is just who is on these secret hit lists for the latter half of 1988, a period ripe for fast-paced buyouts.