ADVERTISEMENT

Takeda Said to Plan Raising Bid for Shire Above $60 Billion

Takeda Pharma sweetens its offer for drugmaker Shire.

Takeda Said to Plan Raising Bid for Shire Above $60 Billion
Signage for Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is displayed on the exterior of the company’s building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. (Photographer: Scott Eisen/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. plans to sweeten its offer for drugmaker Shire Plc to more than $60 billion after a prior bid was rejected, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Takeda is considering boosting its offer to about 47 pounds a share, and may be willing to raise it further, one of the people said, declining to be identified as the deliberations are confidential. A final decision hasn’t been taken, and the talks may yet fall apart, the people said. The companies may discuss the revised proposal in the coming days, they said.

Representatives for Takeda and Shire declined to comment.

Shire on Thursday rejected Takeda’s previous proposal of 46.50 pounds a share, with 62 percent of it in stock. Shire said the terms “significantly undervalue the company and Shire’s growth prospects and pipeline,” but left the door open for further negotiations. A completed deal would be the biggest by a Japanese company of an overseas target, and the combined revenue would place Takeda among the top 10 global pharmaceutical giants.

Shares of Shire declined 4.2 percent to 38.07 pounds as of 2:25 p.m. in London. Its market value has jumped to about $49 billion since Takeda announced its interest on March 28, well above the Japanese drugmaker’s $36 billion. Under U.K. takeover rules, Takeda had until April 25 to make a formal offer or walk away.

--With assistance from Lisa Du and John Lauerman

To contact the reporters on this story: Ruth David in London at rdavid9@bloomberg.net, Dinesh Nair in London at dnair5@bloomberg.net, Manuel Baigorri in London at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Chitra Somayaji

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.