Minority shareholders in Union Diagnostic and Clinical Services Plc have accepted a N492.75 million deal to sell their shares to Cedar Advisory Partners Limited, in a buyout that may lead to the delisting or re-categorisation of the only listed health laboratory science company.

Shareholders agreed to transfer their shareholdings totalling 39.62 per cent to Cedar, which already holds 20.04 per cent equity stake Union Diagnostic, thus increasing Cedar’s majority shareholding to 59.66 per cent, making Cedar the single largest shareholder in the company.

The deal involved transfer of some 1.408 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each of Union Diagnostic held by sundry minority shareholders to Cedar at 35 kobo per share.

Shareholders of Union Diagnostic have given their final approval to the scheme of arrangement for the buyout and also consented to probable modifications by the Federal High Court, technically completing the deal.

The transaction price of 35 kobo per share represented a premium of 75 per cent on the company’s last closing price on March 16, 2020 and 70.1 per cent on 90-day volume weighted average share price.