CSL Said in Talks to Buy $8.6 Billion Swiss Drug Maker Vifor

(Bloomberg) -- Australian biotech company CSL Ltd. is in talks with Vifor Pharma AG over an acquisition of the Swiss-based drug maker, according to people familiar with the matter.

CSL is working on financing a possible takeover of Vifor, which has a market value of 8 billion Swiss francs ($8.6 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Vifor shares rose as much as 18.35% in Zurich on Thursday, an intraday record, following earlier reports about a deal in the Australian press. 

Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they’ll result in a transaction, according to the people. Representatives for Vifor declined to comment.

CSL said it “regularly assesses strategic opportunities” in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. Without naming Vifor, the company said there was no certainty that any transaction would result from the consideration of such opportunities and does not intend to comment beyond its continuous disclosure obligations.

There is no certainty that any transaction will result from CSL’s consideration of such opportunities and, if any transaction does result, when such a transaction would occur. 

A deal would add to $528 billion of transactions in the global health-care sector this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s up 75% on the same period in 2020 and already an annual record, the data show.

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