It’s official: Takeda to buy Shire for £46 billion
pharmafile | May 8, 2018 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | Shire, Takeda, acquisition, pharma
After more than a month of uncertainty, Takeda has finally confirmed it has managed to successfully acquire Shire, agreeing on a valuation of £46 billion and £49.01 a share to be paid in cash and stock.
Closure of the deal has been expected for a number of weeks, after a string of rejected offers which even saw Allergan throw its hat into the ring at one point with a possible offer of its own. After the rival pharma firm dropped out just hours later, Takeda continued the pressure with further negotiations in addition to the appointment of a new UK Managing Director, which many saw as further evidence of its commitment to a deal. The Japanese company also confirmed it had secured a bridge loan facility of $31 billion to finance the deal.
Now agreed, the deal comes in as the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm, as well as the fifth-largest in the industry’s history, beaten only by the likes of Actavis’ purchase of Allergan and the deal which gave birth to GlaxoSmithKline as we know the company today.
“Since its inception, Takeda has transformed into an agile, R&D-driven global pharmaceutical company that is well-positioned to deliver innovative and transformative care to patients around the world,” remarked Christophe Weber, President and CEO of Takeda. “Shire’s highly complementary product portfolio and pipeline, as well as experienced employees, will accelerate our transformation for a stronger Takeda. Together, we will be a leader in providing targeted treatments in gastroenterology, neuroscience, oncology, rare diseases and plasma-derived therapies. We are looking forward to the benefits this combination will bring to patients worldwide, the opportunities it will bring for our employees and the returns it will deliver for our shareholders.”
Susan Kilsby, Chair of Shire, commented: “Over the last 30 years, Shire has become the global leader in treating rare diseases, delivering innovative products that transform patients’ lives. With this combination, Shire helps create an even stronger biopharmaceutical company, with a robust R&D pipeline and expanded global footprint. We are proud of what Shire has become and are grateful to all Shire employees for their contributions. We firmly believe that this combination recognises the strong growth potential of our leading products and innovative pipeline and is in the best interests of our shareholders, our patients and the communities we serve.”
Shire CEO, Flemming Ornskov, added: “With a truly innovative portfolio and pipeline, I believe that the combination of the two companies is in the best interests of shareholders and offers an opportunity to improve the lives of even more patients globally with rare and highly specialised conditions.”
Matt Fellows
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