Efforts to stop the takeover of biotech company Abcam were a setback

Efforts to stop the takeover of leading British biotech firm Abcam have failed after two leading shareholder advisory groups backed the deal.

Jonathan Milner, a leading British breast cancer specialist who founded Cambridge-based Abcam in 1998, is desperately trying to make some headway with a £4.7bn takeover of conglomerate Danaher.

He is the group’s second-largest investor with a 6.2 percent stake and insists Danaher’s offer undervalues ​​the company. He has called on investors to reject the deal, appoint him chairman and fire the board.

Setback: Jonathan Milner desperately tries to slow down Danaher with a £4.7 billion takeover

But his efforts suffered a setback last week when two of the city’s top advisory groups recommended investors support the takeover.

PIRC recommended shareholders support the deal. Rival shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) previously said the takeover was “a superior alternative” to Milner’s proposal, which it said would create “risk and uncertainty”.