Activist Investor Thinks Merck Undervalues Acceleron Buy

Hours after Merck & Co Inc's MRK announcement to acquire Acceleron Pharma Inc XLRN, one of Acceleron's activist investors isn't happy with the price tag.
Related: Merck Seals Acceleron Pharma Deal For $180/Share: Highlights.
Avoro Capital, which beneficially owns approximately 7% of Acceleron, slammed $180-apiece price, arguing it "drastically undervalues" Acceleron.
Avoro argues that, instead of going on sale right now, Acceleron should wait for more clinical trial data from the deal centerpiece, pulmonary arterial hypertension candidate sotatercept, to get a better price.
The investment manager feels "incredibly strongly" that the transaction would hurt Acceleron shareholders if allowed as is, it said in a statement.
When Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal first reported on the deal a few days ago, SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges noted that the $180-per-share price would represent a 45% premium to Acceleron's average share price from mid-April to mid-August.
Avoro calculated the premium at 38% against Acceleron's stock price before the rumor and noted that the premiums of biopharma M&As since 2020 have averaged about 89%.
Price Action: XLRN stock is up 1.66% at $174.98, MRK shares are up 9.45% at $82.21 during the market session on the last check Friday.

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