In an open letter to customers, which was obtained by ChinaBio, Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec (NYSE: WX), said “short-term financial concerns” were the reason its merger with Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was not completed. Dr. Li expressed regret that the failure of the merger would slow WuXi’s evolution into a company with a broader set of CRO capabilities.
At the same time, Dr. Li promised customers that WuXi would continue its efforts to provide the highest level of CRO services.
Charles River Labs announced that it would not ask shareholders to vote on the merger, after the company became convinced from a poll of major stock owners that the proposal would be voted down (see story).
The following is the text of Dr. Li’s open letter:
Message from Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec
Dear Valued Customers,
As you may know, on July 29 we announced that our company and Charles River Laboratories had agreed to terminate the combination agreement due to opposition from certain Charles River shareholders motivated by short-term financial interests, despite the transaction’s compelling strategic rationale. I am disappointed that the transaction was terminated, because we could have provided you a more completed and in-depth fully integrated service sooner. I am grateful to you and our shareholders for your trust and supports of our management team’s vision to build the fully integrated service platform. WuXi as a stand alone company is well position to serve your R&D outsourcing needs.
WuXi’s goal as a company has never changed. It is to provide you, our dear customers with a broad, integrated R&D service platform to help you improve the success of research and shorten the time of development of new products. While we could have achieved that goal more quickly in combination with Charles River, we are more than capable of achieving it on our own.
Now WuXi will continue as an independent company! WuXi has always been intensely customer-focused company, committed to providing you with better services. This goes well with our service slogan “we are determined to serve you better”.
Our track record shows our commitment and demonstrates our ability to successfully add new capabilities and capacity to meet your evolving outsourcing needs. We will continue to invest in our business to provide you with the services you need to advance your products in a cost effective and timely manner.
I also want to ensure you that we have had no interruption to our business as a result of this effort to combine with Charles River. We want to thank you for your consideration and for allowing us to serve you and thank you for your trust and supports. As always, we are committed to providing you with the highest level of service-We are determined to serve you better®
Sincerely,
Ge Li
Chairman & CEO
WuXi AppTec
Disclosure: none.
