Philip Morris and Carlyle face auction in battle for inhaler group

Vectura Group PLC updates

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The battle for control of a Wiltshire-based inhaler company, between the cigarette producer Philip Morris International and the US private equity company Carlyle, is set to be brought to a head in a five-day auction overseen by the UK’s takeover regulator.

The Takeover Panel, which oversees UK mergers and acquisitions, said on Monday that an auction for the company would start on August 11 and run until August 17 at the latest.

The tobacco company and the private equity group are vying to buy UK-listed Vectura, which develops medicines and devices to help with breathing problems.

The battle escalated at the weekend when PMI, which sells Marlboro cigarettes, raised its bid to more than £1bn and called private equity “short term”.

Vectura’s shares rose 4.5 per cent to 171.8p in London on Monday, above the 165p per share that PMI offered on Sunday.

Vectura’s board said it was withdrawing its support for the 155p a share Carlyle bid, but was not recommending the higher PMI offer. It “will make a further announcement after the end of the auction . . . based on its fiduciary duties”, it said.

It is a rare intervention by the regulator. It held a similar process to bring to a head the bidding for Sky in 2018, which resulted in a £30bn knockout bid from US group Comcast.