Alere Confirms Receipt Of Letter From Former Executives Seeking Due Diligence

(RTTNews) - Alere Inc. (ALR) confirmed Monday that a group of former executives, led by former CEO Ron Zwanziger, filed a Schedule 13D with the Securities and Exchange Commission and subsequently sent a letter to Gregg Powers, Chairman of the Board, requesting one month of due diligence in an effort to secure financing to make a bona fide offer for the company.

The company noted that the letter from the former executives does not identify the sources of any proposed financing or indicate that any of those sources is highly confident that the necessary financing will be available. Even though the letter was delivered by three former senior executive officers who led the company as recently as June, the letter indicates that any proposal is contingent upon first completing another month of due diligence.

Powers said, "While Alere is concentrating on executing its business strategy, the directors are mindful of their obligations to shareholders and would of course give appropriate consideration to any bona fide proposal that would maximize shareholder value."

In his letter, Zwanziger said the group can offer a buyout price of $46 per share for aAlere and that it may be able to raise it further when it finalizes a formal fully financed offer at the end of a month of customary due diligence.

The $46 per share offer values Alere at about $3.82 billion.