Shareholders OK CPEX buyout

It looks like CPEX Pharmaceuticals will be no more, at least as an independent entity.Shareholders last week approved the sale of the Exeter-based alternative drug delivery firm to the subsidiary of a bankrupt shoe company, despite a heated challenge to the sale by some large shareholders.CPEX — which didn’t released details of the Boston vote — did say that shareholders approved the $77 million deal, meaning that they will be getting $27.25 in cold cash, in a deal expected to close “in the next few weeks.”CPEX could still back out of the deal, or sell out to someone else, but not without paying a substantial penalty. The sale price represents a near doubling of the price of the stock when the company was spun off from Bentley Pharmaceuticals nearly three years ago.If CPEX closes the deal, it would be owned by FCB I Holdings Inc., 805 percent of which is owned by Footstar Corp. and 19.5 percent by an unaffiliated investment holding company. Footstar is a wholly owned subsidiary of footwear retailer Footstar Inc.A group of investors is putting up most of the capital, and Footstar is primarily involved because it went into Chapter 11 and can carry forward losses.Both CPEX and Footstar have not disclosed what they plan to do with the company, the facilities in Exeter or the workforce, once the sale is consummated. — BOB SANDERS/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW