Drugmaker Shire to Support Latest Offer From Takeda -- WSJ
April 25 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
Japan's Takeda submits fifth takeover proposal for rare-disease
specialist Shire
By Preetika Rana and Noemie Bisserbe
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (April 25, 2018).
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. on Tuesday made a fifth takeover
proposal for rival drugmaker Shire PLC, a last-ditch move by the
Japanese company that would likely value the rare-drug specialist
at more than $60 billion.
In separate statements Tuesday, neither company disclosed the
financial terms of the proposal. Shire said it was considering its
position.
Takeda last week proposed to buy Shire at GBP47 ($65.51) a
share, valuing the Dublin-based company at $60.3 billion and its
fourth attempt to acquire its European rival. Shire said it had
rejected Takeda's three previous proposals because they undervalued
its business. Takeda's interest in Shire first surfaced in
March.
Under U.K. rules, Takeda has until Wednesday to formalize an
offer, withdraw it or walk away. Both companies said there was no
certainty a formal offer would be made.
A successful bid for Shire would mark the biggest-ever Japanese
acquisition of a Western firm and create a global drug giant with
sales of around $30 billion a year.
The combined entity would also bolster Chief Executive
Christophe Weber's ambitions to expand Takeda's international
footprint and add new drugs to the 237-year-old company's shrinking
pool of patent-protected products.
Actos, Takeda's blockbuster diabetes drug, lost patent
protection in 2012. Acid reflux medication Dexilant is expected to
lose protection in 2020.
Best-known in the U.S. for its attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder drug, Adderall, Shire has more recently transformed itself
into one of the world's biggest makers of orphan drugs, or
treatments for rare diseases.
The company has drawn interest from other drugmakers. In 2014,
Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov fought a proposed takeover by
AbbVie Inc. Last week, Allergan said it was also considering a bid
before ultimately deciding against it.
Takeda, however, will likely have to take on significant debt to
fund a deal. At roughly $50 billion, Shire's market value exceeds
that of Takeda by more than $10 billion.
"I can only say they've got guts," said Tomoichiro Kubota, a
senior market analyst at Tokyo-based Matsui Securities. Takeda
shares fell 1.5% on Tuesday and have dropped more than 12% since
its interest in Shire became public late March.
Shire shares were up 3.5% on Tuesday afternoon. The stock has
risen around 30% since reports of Takeda's interest first
materialized. Takeda's proposal last week valued Shire shares at a
premium of more than 50% compared with when its interest became
public.
--Kosaku Narioka and Peter Landers contributed to this
article.
Write to Preetika Rana at preetika.rana@wsj.com and Noemie
Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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