Investment firm raises bid for Cypress Bioscience to $4.25 per share, makes tender offer

Ramius makes new unsolicited offer for Cypress

SAN DIEGO — Investment manager Ramius said Wednesday it started an unsolicited offer to buy Cypress Bioscience Inc. for $4.25 per share, an increase from its most recent offer for the biotechnology company.

Ramius Value and Opportunity Advisors LLC owns 9.9 percent of Cypress’ stock, and it offered to buy San Diego-based Cypress in July for $4 per share. Cypress rejected that offer. The current bid values Cypress at $164 million based on its total of 38.6 million shares. Cypress stock closed at $3.51 Tuesday, and it traded at $2.50 before Ramius made its first offer.

The initial bid was made public July 19.

The firm said it is taking its offer directly to shareholders because the Cypress board won’t negotiate. The new offer is a 21.1 percent premium to Tuesday’s closing price and a 70 percent premium to its closing price on July 16.

The bid is scheduled to expire on Oct. 13.

Cypress said its board will review the offer. Its shares jumped 32 cents, or 9.1 percent, to $3.83.

When Ramius made its first offer, shares of Cypress were trading at their lowest prices in more than six years and had lost almost three-quarters of their value over the last 12 months. Ramius said Cypress had made bad acquisitions and investments that hurt its stock price.