Takeda agrees to acquire Shire for £45.3bn

As per the terms of the deal, the Japanese pharma company will pay $30.33 in cash for each Shire share along with either 0.839 new Takeda shares or 1.678 Takeda American depositary shares (ADSs).

Takeda said that its combination with Shire will result in a global, values-based R&D-driven biopharmaceutical company that will be headquartered in Japan.

It will also bring together complementary positions across gastroenterology (GI) and neuroscience, said the Japanese firm.

Further, the combination will help the enlarged group take leading positions in rare diseases and plasma-derived therapies to go along with its strength in oncology and focused efforts in development of vaccines.

The merger of the two pharma companies is also expected to create a highly complementary, modality-diverse pipeline and a consolidated research and development (R&D) engine focused on breakthrough innovation, said Takeda.

Takeda president and CEO Christophe Weber said: “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.”

The deal has the backing of boards of directors of both the companies, and upon its closing, Takeda shareholders will own nearly 50% of the enlarged company.

Shire CEO Flemming Ornskov said: “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 specialized conditions.”

The acquisition is anticipated to be completed in the first half of 2019, subject to approvals from shareholders of both Shire and Takeda along with meeting of certain customary closing conditions such as receipt of regulatory approvals.

Last month, Shire made a major deal by offloading its oncology business to French pharmaceutical firm Servier for $2.4bn.

Image: Takeda Midosuji Building, the head office of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan. Photo: courtesy of J o/Wikipedia.org.