Our client is GlobaPharm, a major pharmaceutical company with $10 billion a year in revenue. Its corporate headquarters and primary R&D centers are in Germany, with regional sales offices worldwide. GlobaPharm has a long, successful tradition in researching, developing, and selling "small molecule" drugs — the vast majority of drugs today, including aspirin and most blood-pressure or cholesterol medications. GlobaPharm is interested in entering a new, rapidly growing segment called "biologicals": often proteins or other large, complex molecules that can treat conditions not addressable by traditional drugs. R&D for biologicals is vastly different from small-molecule R&D. To gain these capabilities, pharmacos have three options: build from scratch, partner with existing start-ups, or acquire them. Since its competitors are already several years ahead, GlobaPharm wants to jumpstart its biologicals program by acquiring BioFuture, a leading biologicals start-up based in the San Francisco area. BioFuture was founded 12 years ago by several prominent scientists and now employs 200 people. It is publicly traded and currently valued at approximately $1 billion.