The Seattle Times has some advice for Icos shareholders:
Shareholders of Icos, the Seattle area’s largest locally owned biotech company, have another few days to think about whether to sell out to Eli Lilly, which has just raised its offer by $2 a share. Lilly has not changed its intention to close Icos and lay off all 550 employees here.
[…] Management, which stands to gain tens of millions of dollars in bonuses from the deal, was telling shareholders Lilly’s $32-a-share offer was good. Now, it’s $34 a share. Shareholders might think twice before taking its word for it and selling so easily.
At the risk of being branded a dirty commie, I’d like to also suggest that local shareholders might also think twice about whether their personal profit should take precedence over the broader interests of their community — both the community in which they live and the community of Icos employees.
This is an issue the local media seems to have gingerly danced about since Lilly announced their intention to shut down Icos and lay off all 550 employees. The decision has been described as “strange” and “unexpected,” but now that Lilly has made its intentions clear, Icos managers and shareholders can’t blame Lilly for the layoffs. If shareholders approve the deal, they will be directly responsible for shutting down a company they helped create, and laying off all of its employees. They can’t just blame Lilly; they must blame themselves.
I know it is apostasy in a nation that deifies capitalists to suggest that there is more to life than maximizing ones profits, or that individuals have an obligation to society that sometimes trumps personal self-interest. And it may appear idealistic and naive to advocate that there are some values that can never be quantified on a spreadsheet. But it is likewise idealist and naive to hide behind the notion that the market always makes the most efficient allocation of resources.
No doubt many Icos shareholders are only in it for the money, and they should follow the Times advice and evaluate Lilly’s offer based purely on whether they are getting a high enough price for their shares. But I’d wager that many shareholders — as well as the vast majority of Icos employees — also take pride in having helped to build something larger than themselves.
A vote to sell out is a vote to dismantle Seattle’s largest locally owned bio-tech company and lay off all of its employees, and I don’t think it unfair or unwise to ask local Icos shareholders to factor that into their decision. And if Lilly ultimately prevails, and yet another local bio-tech company is bought out and shut down, I think it is time to ask our elected officials to reconsider whether the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks and other public subsidies we are investing in this industry is really benefiting the region, or merely benefiting a handful of savvy investors?
Even with my superior intellect, this whole thing bewilders me.
A biotech company IS its people. It ain’t the building and the petri dishes. What is Lilly buying? They get rights to whatever Icos has developed for a few years until the patents run out, but what after that?
Is that it?
Goldy – What “subsidies” did Icos get?
You mean like giving Paul Allen a few billion for a stadium?
MTR – WHAT A LAUGH! SUPERIOR INTELLECT. SO SUPERIOR YOU LOST A BET TO GOLDY BY A FREAKING MILE!
PAY YOUR FUCKING GAMBLING DEBT.
CUTTING RICH PEOPLE’S TAXES GIVES THEM AN INCENTIVE TO INVEST IN NEW PLANTS AND EQUIPMENT.
IN CHINA.
Goldy-I know this is off topic, but please keep making some mention, no matter how brief, about those in Seattle who are still without power. This will be their sixth day. We finally got our power last night at 11.30; as grateful as I am for that fact, my opinion hasn’t changed about the ineptitude with which this crisis has been handled. I’m glad I’ve discovered you!
What is Lilly buying if it intends to fire everyone? Is there a wonder drug under development at Icos that Lilly wants? If there is, the company is worth a helluva of a lot more than they’re offering.
It would seem to me that, without the technical talent, Icos isn’t worth anything except what you could sell the fixed assets for.
There’s more to this than meets the eye, but I sure as hell can’t figure out Lilly wants Icos sans employees.
Icos gets the same “subsidies” as other high-techs. They get B&O tax credits and sales tax deferrals from the State of WA. Those tax breaks are given in the hope of stimulating research & development, creating jobs, company growth and geographic diversification – all leading to an overall increase in revenues. There is nothing wrong with that approach, because biotechs and other start-ups don’t know when they will turn a profit. It takes about ten years to get a drug on the market, after an exhaustive 3-trial process. But that “approach” should not be seen as the magic bullet.
That’s why biotechs are mostly funded by venture capital.
Whether or not those tax breaks actually work is very much up for grabs. The Dept. of Revenue published a study in 2003 called the High-Tech Tax Incentive Programs Study, which showed that for most of the goals of the tax breaks (increase in jobs, revenue, diversification, etc.) the results are decidedly mixed.
Millions of dollars in tax breaks have been, are now, in the works for biotechs starting up in or relocating to South Lake Union. And there’s nothing wrong with that if the goals can be achieved. But in the biotech world, it takes a long time to get there. In the meantime, Seattle is ranked about 6th in the country for biotech businesses. If Icos sells those 550 jobs, that’s going to have a great impact on the area’s biotech, at least for the short-term. Even Amgen kept Immunex jobs here.
Rebecca – What “ineptitude”???? Give me an example.
Mickey – Explain to me how gummint not stealing Icos’ money is the same thing as giving them something. It’s THEIR FUCKING MONEY you dumass. Letting them keep it is not doing them a favor.
icos may have a drug that they have in development or gene therapy that lilly wants.the employees that will be layed off are not the ones doing the creating most likely…they are the “cogs” so to speak.or lilly may just want to get them out of the picture. when you buy a company you usually get it’s patents….which may be standing in the way of something lilly wants to expand upon. they are in the business to make money goldy…that’s what companies do. and seattle is not business friendly…unless you own a mega coffee company or cheese and wine shop.if you think that the shareholders should think of “the little people” first and not their investment…think again. that’s not how it works. they bought those stocks to MAKE money….not put dibs on a job for someone in seattle.lilly will be able to do alot more with this company than they could on their own. they have the resources and facilities.
companies that make money are not bad goldy….what do you pay your mortgage with…cabbage heads? buttons?
come on…..aren’t you the guy that is always asking for money? complaining that you don’t have enough? and once again…there is a simple cure for that. you could shake off your boy-interrupted-itis and get a real job. or start your own company.
then you could hire all the people that will be layed off and coddle them till you went broke………..
and libertarian……..even if there is a wonder drug they have in development [and i don’t think so] it wouldn’t be worth that much. do you have any idea how expensive it is to get that drug to market?and the time it takes…ten years is a ‘kind’ assessment.
christmasghost,
Yes, I do know how long it takes for a wonder drug to come to market – decades, if not longer. I don’t fault phamaceutical companies for making money on the drugs they produce. My question concerns the motivation from Lilly to buy-out Icos and toss away the talent. It doesn’t sound like a good business decision on face value. There’s obviously something that none of us know about this deal, and it may not be discovered for years.
seattle is not business friendly
GHOST, I WOULDN’T WANT TO BE THE SUGAR DADDY HOLDING UP ANY COMPANY YOU’RE INVOLVED IN RUNNING.
ICOS IS IN BOTHELL – DUMBASS. BUT THEN WASHINGTON STATE IS ALL SEATTLE TO YOU, RIGHT?
gummint not stealing Icos’ money
THE GOVERNMENT COULD ASK FOR ONE PENNY A YEAR FROM ICOS AND MTR THE BET WELSHER WOULD CALL IT “STEALING”.
WHAT A “SUPERIOR” INTELLECT. MORE LIKE A SHITHEAD TO ME.
PAY YOUR F’ING GAMBLING DEBT.
1 Good God, Redneck said something that made sense! But this doesn’t get you out of your debts. Pay your fucking gambling wager, welsher!
The logic of those who claim the market is infallible argues that Boeing shareholders should have sold out to Boone Pickens and let him liquidate the company.
Which was exactly what Pickens was going to do.
A going concern is always worth more than its parts.
That’s where virtually all shareholder value comes from, unless you’re satisfied to merely get back what you put in.
Yeah the market sucks, especially right now.
Let’s go to a socialist model.
I think we should go to a socialist model in your case. You’ve proven that you can’t be trusted with money or anything else.
How about if we confiscate your property and shoot you?*
(* I don’t mean it — this is just Ann Coulter humor.)
Actually, the government does subsidize businesses like Icos, by providing roads and other infrastructure.
Mr. Redneck: please go back to school and take econ. 101. Your stupidity is boring.
Roger Rabbit @23: You are correct. It’s just that the word “subsidy” throws some people off. Acccording to Barron’s Business Dictionary, a “subsidy” is a cash payment or a remission of a tax. But subsidy has come to mean all those other incentives and economic encouragements, including special roads and infrastructure. A perfect example of that would be the deal that Gary Locke cooked up (in secret) for Boeing, in a desperate move to keep assembly of the 787 here in WA.
Part of what Boeing got in the deal: $4.2 million in transportation improvements that included extending HOV lanes on I-5 and widening lanes on Hwy 527 for 20 blocks. That cannot be seen as anything but a subsidy.
It doesn’t matter whether a company is in Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond or Seattle. All tax breaks come from State govt. But city govt.s approve incentives programs for companies in an effort to keep them local.
Rebecca and all you other spoiled brats out there . . . you really want to pay for immediate emergency service that goes unneeded most of the year? Then you’d be crying about your bill every day of the week!
Get used to it. You live in the foothills and you expect urban service. I’m tired of your whining. And Goldstein, you didn’t have to wait all that long yourself.
Regarding Icos . . . I’ve been waiting for someone to explain the thinking. But you all seem as confused as I am. I have respect for the knowledge base on this board. So, it is interesting isn’t it . . .
Libertarian @12
I agree, this makes no sense. The researchers/scientists/expertise in the firm have got to be Icos’ biggest asset…this is tossing out the baby for the bathwater. Does make you wonder what’s up.
A subsidy is when money from my pocket is transfered to some fucking freeloader. For example, me paying the “restaurant” tax in the company cafeteria and giving it to that assfuckinghole Paul Allen for that fucking stadium.
Letting me keep MY FUCKING MONEY is NOT doing me any fucking favor.
The state didn’t give one fucking penny to Boeing. All they did was agree to be slightly less greedy in helping themselves to Boeing’s money.
Now, please explain this to me, like I’m the village idiot.
Doesn’t the gov’t gain massive revenue from TAXING a companies employees? So why not provide incentives to companies to stay? Increased revenue.
Right stuff, you are the village idiot. When the incentives exceed the revenue its no longer worth it. Since people like redneck insist that the services like roads, emergency services and police are something that companies should get without paying for, incentives are far too costly for the most part. If you can convince redneck to part with ‘his fucking money’ to actually pay for the services he gets, maybe we could afford to do stuff like that.
CORPORATIONS OWE NOTHING TO SOCIETY FOR SAY A JUSTICE SYSTEM OR NATIONAL DEFENSE OR VETERANS HEALTH CARE. IT’S ALL “NOT ONE PENNY FOR TRIBUTE” TO SHITHEADS LIKE MTR.
PAY YOUR FUCKING GAMBLING DEBT, WELSHER.
Yeah. Actually, I live in a solidly working class neighborhood, and I expect better from an urban utility service. I’ve been called a lot of things in my day but “spoiled brat” isn’t one of them. Whatever about you.
Oh, and redneck I realize that they do not stress the english language in a poli-sci major at some universities, and that is a word you’ve never seen because your employers never let you look at the reports about your work, but according to Merriam-Webster the word ineptitude means : the quality or state of being inept; especially : INCOMPETENCE
skagit, you talk more sh#t than a little bit …
I don’t want to jack the thread. But people who live in the city do so for one reason: ACCESS TO CITY SERVICES! What is so hard about that for you to understand? Foothills?! What the hell are you talking about?
Having worked for another Northwest company that Lilly acquired and proceeded to fuck up, I say tar and feather the bastards and send their asses back to Indianapolis on a rail.
Well, Dave and Rebecca, I guess everybody is just conspiring to keep you all from having service. Let’s have an investigation, shall we?
Do either of you think anybody is really trying not to give you service? Or do you think the employees who are out there doing long shifts in dangerous conditions should do even more just so your jacuzzi will work?
Spoiled brats is right.
BTW, Dave and Rebecca, is it your belief that power just erupts from the ground beneath you? Wonder what you two are going to do when if and when we have a real disaster?
29 A subsidy is when money from my pocket is transfered to some fucking freeloader. For example, me paying the “restaurant” tax in the company cafeteria and giving it to that assfuckinghole Paul Allen for that fucking stadium.
You strike me as the type who goes to a bar to watch the football games on big screen TV — and never buys anything.
30 Doesn’t the gov’t gain massive revenue from TAXING a companies employees?
No. We don’t have income taxes in this state.
36 “just so your jacuzzi will work”
For people who are still lacking power, this comment is insensitive, to say the least. All these folks want is heat, lights, cooking, and hot showers. Yes, it’s true the crews are busting their balls in difficult conditions, and their impatience won’t get their power restored any quicker, but at least try to understand the frustration of trying to live in caveman conditions in this weather.
I just want to remind everyone that George W. Bush got started in his sociopathic career by blowing up frogs with firecrackers. Which doesn’t surprise me; he seems like the type. http://tinyurl.com/4qsz4
I understand the frustration. I even understand the complaining. But, what do they (and you) really think anger is going to accomplish? So call me insensitive. I will rebut that the insensitivity might be on their part for all the people who are out there trying their best to get it done.
So don’t come lawyering for your poor spoiled brats to me. I have the interests of all the guys and girls from wherever who are missing time with their families and spending long hours in dangerous conditions at heart.
me me me me me me me me me me me me
BTW, I lost property in this storm. But I can keep it in perspective.
Just heard there are 3000 utility workers out there working around the clock? You people are really something.
Rabbit – I don’t hafta go to a bar to watch a big screen. I own one. You fucking loser.
libertarian@11…..i don’t think they will be throwing out the “talent” …just the opposite. but it sounds like this company is still funded by venture[vulture] capitalists [could that really be true…with 550 employees?] if that is so it sounds like they have something lilly wants and they can’t get anymore funding to bring it to market.
***and as for you YOS LIB BRO….wow, could you be more dense? and why are you ‘yelling’ anyway? caps key stuck?
sugar daddy indeed…now that is funny. my employees are going to love that one. what? because i’m a woman you don’t think i can run a very viable and profitable company? think again sweetpea……
but, i am merely the lowly [ha ha] vice president.
look…only people from washington that live there still give a rat’s ass about anything in washington. you guys have this whole ‘legend in your own minds’ thing going way too much. bothell, seattle…big diff.
besides….NOT FOR LONG.
Roger, you said something on the other thread that I’ve been chastised for saying: he is sociopathic and the fire cracker/frog story is absolutely true and horrific. And he will continue to kill kids until this country finally stops him.