San Diego, Oct. 03, 2011 (Shareholders Foundation) -- The announcement that Pharmaceutical Product Development agreed to be acquired by affiliates of The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman for $33.25 per PPDI share prompted an investigation on behalf of investors of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPDI)) concerning whether the offer to acquire Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. and the buyout process are unfair to investors of NASDAQ:PPDI and whether certain of its officers and directors or others breach their fiduciary duties owed investors in Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI) shares.

The investigation by a law firm concerns whether Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc, certain of its officers and directors, and/or others breached their fiduciary duties owed Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI) investors in connection with the proposed acquisition.

On October 3, 2011, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) announced that it has entered into a merger agreement under which it will be acquired by affiliates of The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.9 billion, after which Pharmaceutical Product Development will be a private company. Under the terms of the proposed buyout, The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman will acquire the outstanding common shares of Pharmaceutical Product Development for $33.25 per PPDI share in cash. Pharmaceutical Product Development said the offer represents a premium of 29.6 percent over PPD's closing price on September 30, 2011.

Following the takeover news PPDI shares jumped on Monday, October 3, 2011 to $32.26 per share.

However, at least one analyst has set the high target price for PPDI shares at $38 per share. Additionally Pharmaceutical Product Developments financial performance over the past four years has been consistent. Pharmaceutical Product Developments annual Revenue ranged over the past four annual filing periods between $1.39billion and $1.55billion with an annual Net Income ranging from $127.70million to $187.95million. Its second quarter financial results in 2011 improved compared to one year earlier. Pharmaceutical Product Development reported a second quarter 2011 Revenue of $407.70million compared $369.92million for the second quarter in 2010 and its second quarter Net Income rose from $20.98million last year to $46.51million this year.

Shares of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:PPDI) grew from as low as $19.37 in May 2009 to as high as $31.15 as recently as September 2, 2011.

Therefore, the investigation concerns whether the affiliates of The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman would underpay for NASDAQ:PPDI shares, thus unlawfully harming Pharmaceutical Product Development, stockholders, and whether the Pharmaceutical Product Development Board of Directors undertook an adequate sales process and in particular breached their fiduciary duties to PPDI shareholders by failing to adequately shop the Company before entering into this transaction. A potential securities class action lawsuit would seek to maximize the amount of money and information Pharmaceutical Product Development (NASDAQ PPDI) shareholders would receive in a buyout, so the law firm.