Alliance Global says Heska's acquisition will not invite regulatory scrutiny

Heska

04/04/2023 12:53

** Analysts at Alliance Global Partners anticipate that Mars
Inc's move to buy Heska Corp  HSKA.O  will not invite any
regulatory scrutiny and also expect the transaction to close in
early H2 of the year 
    ** On Monday, Mars said it would buy Heska in a $1.3-bln
deal, or $120/shr – a premium of 22.9% over HSKA's last close
    ** Brokerage views the combination of Mars' existing Antech
veterinary reference lab business along with co's point-of-care
diagnostic offerings as highly complementary
    ** The brokerage, however, cuts rating to 'neutral' from
'buy' and PT to $120 from $129 due to the acquisition
    ** "Given a relatively small field of potential alternate
acquirers, we would not expect the acquisition announcement to
elicit additional bids" 
    ** Two of six analysts rate the stock 'buy' and the rest
have a 'hold' rating; their median PT is $120 - Refinitiv  

 (Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru)
 ((tejaswi.marthi@thomsonreuters.com))