Takeda makes fourth offer to buy Shire
Japan-based Takeda has upped its offer to buy Ireland-headquartered Shire for the fourth time, raising its bid to approximately £44 billion ($61.6 billion).
Shire had rejected Takeda’s first three proposals on Thursday, April 19 after concluding that Takeda was continuing to “significantly undervalue the company and Shire’s growth prospects and pipeline”.
In early April, LSIPR reported that Takeda was considering making an offer for the biopharmaceutical company at a “preliminary and exploratory stage”, but that it hadn’t yet approached the Shire board.
At the time, Takeda said that the acquisition would strengthen its core therapeutic areas of oncology, gastroenterology and neuroscience, and balance Takeda’s geographic focus to align with market opportunities in the US.
On Friday, April 20, Shire announced a new offer from Takeda.
Takeda is now offering £47 per share, comprised of £21 in cash and £26 of new Takeda shares. This is an increase of approximately 7% on the original offer and a premium of approximately 58% to Shire’s closing share price of £29.81 on March 23, 2018, according to Takeda.
The Japan-based company said that it believes this proposal represents a “highly compelling opportunity” for Shire shareholders.
Shire’s board is considering the offer.
Also on April 19, Allergan confirmed that it was in the early stages of considering making an offer for Shire. However, later the same day, Allergan announced that it would not be making a bid.
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