Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in developing, manufacturing, and marketing pharmaceutical products, has completed the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Ltd, to an entity affiliated with Close Brothers Private Equity for $176 million. Rosemont is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of high quality oral liquid medicines in the United Kingdom.

The net proceeds from this transaction after taxes and expenses are estimated to be approximately $140 million. The company is also finalizing a plan to pursue a program to repurchase outstanding shares of the company's common stock. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. acted as financial advisor to Savient.

Christopher Clement, president and chief executive officer of Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said, "We are pleased to have successfully completed this transaction and achieved another milestone in building shareholder value. The sale follows an extensive examination of the alternatives that were available for the Rosemont business and we believe that this transaction is in the best interests of shareholders. We extend our best wishes to our colleagues at Rosemont as they continue to advance their development of the oral liquid pharmaceutical business."

Clement continued, "The consummation of this transaction is consistent with our stated strategy of bolstering the specialty pharmaceutical focus of Savient. The proceeds from this transaction will allow us to focus our efforts and resources on the full development and commercialization of our promising lead drug candidate, Puricase (PEG-uricase), for treatment failure gout. It also affords us the flexibility to devote additional resources to the exploration of clinical outcomes for Puricase (PEG-uricase) in the areas of reduction of gout flares and elimination of gout tophi. We also plan to evaluate the potential use of Puricase (PEG-uricase) in other uric acid mediated diseases.

"In parallel, our business development efforts will be focused on the identification and consummation of an appropriate partnering alliance for the clinical development and commercialization of Puricase (PEG-uricase) outside the United States, as well as on exploring highly selective opportunities to expand our clinical pipeline."

"In addition, the net proceeds from the transaction provide us the resources to advance our plan to repurchase outstanding shares of our common stock. This stock purchase plan underscores the confidence of management and our Board of Directors in Savient's long-term growth prospects and the potential of Puricase (PEG-uricase)."