LONDON _ Beaufort-Ipsen, the French family ownedpharmaceutical company, has taken over Porton International plc,one the of U.K.'s first biotech companies. The deal, worth 65.5million (U.S. $105 million), gives Beaufort-Ipsen manufacturingoperations in the U.K. and the U.S.London-based Porton International has a checkered history. Itsfounder, Wensley Haydon-Baillie, is a controversial figure who hasnot had good relations with the press, resulting in critical presscoverage over the years, little of which was related to Porton'sbusiness activities. On the other hand, the company has failed with anumber projects and never lived up to its financial forecasts.In the documents recommending the takeover to shareholders,Lazards Brothers, financial advisors to Beaufort-Ipsen, describePorton as "a fully integrated U.K. phased pharmaceutical companywhich . . . manufactures specialist products principally in the fieldsof hemophilia, oncology, neurology, major surgery support andvaccines." In 1993, the company's sales totalled 48.8million. Ofthis, 25 million was for specialist pharmaceuticals projects and 3.5million from sales of "defense vaccines." The company reported apre-tax loss of 1.2 million._ Michael Kenward

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