Notable Mergers and Acquisitions of the Day 11/25: BHP/RTP, MEMY

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The BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) Board today decided that it no longer believes that completion of the offers for Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) would be in the best interests of BHP Billiton shareholders.

BHP Billiton Chairman, Don Argus, said today's decision was first and foremost about BHP Billiton shareholder value and risks to that shareholder value. "We have said that we would only seek to complete the transaction if it was in the best interests of BHP Billiton's shareholders. While we have not changed our view of the basic industrial logic of the combination, or of the longer term prospects for natural resource demand growth driven by emerging economies, we have concerns about the continued deterioration of near term global economic conditions, the lack of any certainty as to the time it will take for conditions to improve and the risks that these issues imply for shareholder value."
Roche and Memory Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MEMY) announced that the two companies have signed a definitive merger agreement for Roche to acquire all the outstanding shares of Memory Pharmaceuticals in an all-cash transaction for an aggregate price of approximately USD 50 million.

Memory Pharmaceuticals develops innovative drug candidates for the treatment of debilitating central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Memory Pharmaceuticals' nicotinic alpha-7 agonist drug candidates in these disease areas are already in partnered programmes with Roche: R3487/MEM 3454 is in phase II clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia; R4996/MEM 63908 is in phase I for Alzheimer's disease.

To see all the Mergers & Acquisitions for today in real-time go to http://www.streetinsider.com/Mergers+and+Acquisitions