Encorium Announces the Initiation of a Strategic Partnership With Prologue Research After the Postponement of Negotiations Regarding Its Planned Acquisition; Strategic Reorganization and Cost Reduction Plan Initiated as Strategic Alternatives ar...( WAYNE Penn. Sept. 22 /- Encorium ...),Health

WAYNE, Penn., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Encorium Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENCO), a full service multinational clinical research organization (CRO) conducting studies in over 30 countries for many of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, today announced that at this time Encorium and Prologue have mutually agreed to postpone negotiations regarding Encorium's planned acquisition of Prologue. Instead, the management teams of the two companies have decided to form a strategic partnership while leaving open the possibility of restarting negotiations relating to a merger of the two entities at a later date.

In conjunction with the postponement of negotiations with Prologue, Encorium's management and Board has initiated a strategic reorganization designed to cut costs and preserve capital. As an initial action to achieve profitability, Encorium is announcing an immediate reduction of its staff in the United States by approximately 18%. In addition to this and other immediate actions to improve profitability in its U.S. and European operations, Encorium will focus its management energies on intracompany sales growth as well. The Company also announced that it has engaged Mufson Howe Hunter & Company LLC to investigate possible strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.

"While we are disappointed we could not reach a final agreement on the acquisition at this time, in light of the strong strategic and cultural fit between Encorium and Prologue and their respective management teams, we believe that the formation of a strategic partnership will enable us to realize many of the potential benefits that a transaction could have created," stated Kai Lindevall, Executive Chairman of the Board of Enc
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