Elan Corporation, the troubled Irish pharmaceuticals group, has agreed the sale of its remaining shares in Ligand Pharmaceuticals for €56.6 million.
It has now completed the disposal of its interests in the US company for €137 million. Elan expects to record a pre-tax gain of approximately €62.9 million in respect of the total disposal.
The sales will form part of Elan's targeted proceeds from the divestment of assets as outlined in its recovery plan.
Last week Elan shocked investors with a warning the company might collapse after announcing that a delay in the filing of its 2002 US accounts could put it in default with some bondholders.
Elan said it missed an initial deadline for the filing of its 2002 annual report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and that a delay beyond July 30th could bring it into technical default with some of its bondholders.
Once the Republic's biggest company, Elan is saddled with some €1.9 billion in debt and is due to repay a bond, which analysts said it had whittled down to just under €435 million, by the end of the year.
It has been selling off assets to meet its debt obligations.
A further delay beyond September 14th could also trigger the immediate repayment on Elan's Senior Notes, worth €565 million.
The company had sought to put its difficulties behind it this year, with the appointment in January of a new chief executive, Mr G Kelly Martin, formally senior vice-president at Merrill Lynch in charge of international private clients.
