Nightstar Therapeutics Shares Surge on Biogen Deal

By Colin Kellaher

Shares of Nightstar Therapeutics Inc. (NITE) surged in premarket trading Monday after the gene-therapy company agreed to be acquired by Biogen Inc. (BIIB) for $25.50 a share in cash, a 68% premium.

Nightstar shares, which closed Friday at $15.16, were up 67% to $25.35 premarket.

Analysts at SVB Leerink said the acquisition "strikes us as favorable" for Nightstar, adding that Roche Holding AG's (ROG.EB) deal to buy Spark Therapeutics Inc. (ONCE) and MeiraGTx Holdings PLC's (MGTX) recently announced collaboration with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) may have prompted Biogen to pull the trigger on the Nightstar deal.

The Nightstar takeover is also a win for the U.K.'s Syncona Ltd. (SYNC.LN), which will get about $336.1 million for its Nightstar stake--about 4.5 times its original investment. Syncona's London-listed shares were up 2.8%.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 04, 2019 08:52 ET (13:52 GMT)

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