- Hours after Medison delivers stinging rebuke of Knight’s lack of vision and execution, Knight’s lawyers and accountants deliver onerous data demands to Medison on specious grounds
- Knight’s expensive tactic will not deter Medison from seeking to create value for all Knight shareholders
- Medison’s comprehensive plan for Knight – “Creating Value At Knight Therapeutics” – is available at www.NewDayForKnight.com
PETACH TIKVA, Israel, March 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medison Biotech Ltd. (“Medison”), which together with its affiliates owns more than 10.4 million shares, or 7.3% of Knight Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX:GUD) (“Knight” or the “Company”) today released correspondence it received from Knight’s lawyers and accountants.
The correspondence was delivered to Medison just hours after Knight’s second largest shareholder offered a comprehensive alternative strategy for the Company and Knight announced weak annual financial results. Knight is suddenly demanding tens of thousands of pages from Medison “within 10 days” so that Knight’s accountants can “perform a review of [Medison’s] policies, procedures, accounting and additional data analysis.” In the three-year relationship between Knight and Medison, this is the first such request Knight has ever made.
The unprecedented request comes only days after Medison delivered extensive financial and accounting information relating to Medison’s operations and performance in 2018 to enable Knight to complete its own financial statements. Knight filed its 2018 Annual Information Form yesterday, incorporating the financial data Medison previously provided.
“We will not be bullied by Knight and Jonathan Goodman,” said Meir Jakobsohn, Chief Executive Officer of Medison Pharma and a Board member of Knight. “This substantial and utterly unfounded data request is nothing more than an expensive proxy-fight tactic to harass us for daring to point out that Knight has not created value for its shareholders and lacks a coherent strategy for doing so.”
“We are grateful for the support expressed by our fellow Knight shareholders. Understandably, after yet another lost year, there is great discontent,” continued Mr. Jakobsohn. “Perhaps Knight should put as much money and time into developing and executing a business plan as it apparently is willing to spend on trying to intimidate us. This latest action reveals the lengths to which the Board and CEO will go to preserve the status-quo. It is clearly time for a New Day at Knight.”
The complete correspondence delivered by Knight’s lawyers and accountants, along with Medison’s comprehensive plan for Knight are available at www.NewDayForKnight.com.
Medison has engaged Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP and Goodmans LLP as legal advisors.
About Medison
Medison is one of the world's largest commercial partners of leading global biotech companies. Backed by three generations of experience in the healthcare industry since 1937, Medison is uniquely qualified to provide the complete spectrum of integrated services for international companies looking to enter or expand their presence in Israeli and selected ROW markets. Medison runs Medison Ventures, a corporate venture arm with a dedicated research and evaluation team boasting deep scientific and commercial backgrounds. Medison Ventures operates a scouting program to cater to its partners and is an active investor in life science projects around drug development and digital health.
Additional information can be found at www.medison.co.il.
Forward Looking Statement
This news release and the recommended Strategy and Plan to Create Shareholder Value referenced herein contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, Medison’s and Knight’s respective priorities, plans and strategies. All statements and information, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding activities, events or developments that Medison expects or anticipates may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe” or “continue” or similar words and expressions or the negative thereof. There can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which these forward-looking statements are based will occur or, even if they do occur, will result in the performance, events or results expected. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained herein, which are not a guarantee of performance, events or results and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual performance, events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include: changes in Knight’s strategies, plans or prospects; general economic, industry, business, regulatory and market conditions; actions of Knight and its competitors; conditions in the pharmaceutical industry; risks relating to government regulation and changes thereto, including in respect of the regulations concerning board composition, proxy solicitation and shareholder meetings; the state of the economy including general economic conditions globally and economic conditions in the jurisdictions in which Knight operates; the unpredictability and volatility of Knight’s share price; and dilution and future sales of securities of the Company. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Certain forward-looking statements contained herein may be considered to be future-oriented financial information or a financial outlook for the purposes of applicable Canadian securities laws. Future oriented financial information and financial outlook contained herein about prospective financial performance, financial position or cash flows are based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action, based on the applicable management team’s assessment of the relevant information available to them at the applicable time, and to become available in the future. In particular, the information contains projected operational information for future periods which are based on a number of material assumptions and factors. The actual results of the applicable operations for any period could vary from the amounts set forth in these projections, and such variations may be material. Further, there is no assurance or guarantee with respect to the prices at which any securities of Knight will trade, and such securities may not trade at prices that may be implied herein. See above for a discussion of the risks that could cause actual results to vary from such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including those risks and uncertainties detailed in the continuous disclosure and other filings of Knight, copies of which are available on the System for Electronic Document Analysis (“SEDAR”) at www.sedar.com. We urge you to carefully consider those risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date of this news release and Medison disclaims any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.
For more information:
Investors
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Christine Carson
647-931-7396
Media
Longview Communications & Public Affairs
Joel Shaffer
416-649-8006
Peter Block
416-649-8008