China's Creat suffers setback in Biotest deal on U.S. scrutiny

[November 07, 2017] FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Chinese investor Creat Group Corp has withdrawn its application for U.S. approval of a planned 1.3-billion-euro ($1.51-billion) takeover of Biotest, the German blood plasma products maker said, sending its shares sharply lower.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had national security concerns about the transaction that Biotest said could not be mitigated under the planned deal structure, according to a statement on Tuesday.

Creat and Biotest are therefore withdrawing their application and plan to file a new one with a request for an expedited review, Biotest said, but added there was no guarantee that a second attempt would be successful.

Biotest, whose products are used to treat blood coagulation disorders, auto-immune diseases and immune deficiencies, agreed in April to be taken over by Creat in a cash deal.

Shares in Biotest were down 6.8 percent in pre-market trade at brokerage Lang & Schwarz.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Ludwig Burger)

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