French healthcare giant Sanofi has strengthened its presence in the rare diseases arena by forking out US$11.6bn for US haemophilia specialist Bioverativ Inc (NASDAQ:BIVV).
News of the deal sent Bioverativ shares surging by 62.9% to US$104.43 in pre-market trading on Monday.
Sanofi shares dived 4% to make it the worst performer on France’s CAC 40, with several analysts commented that the deal looked expensive.
It is the latest sign of M&A activity in the sector as Big Pharma revive their interest in smaller biotech firms which have developed, or are developing, innovative technologies.
Sanofi is to pay US$105 in cash for each Bioverativ share – a 64% premium to Friday’s closing price.
Bioverativ, which makes drugs to treat haemophilia, was spun out of Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) almost a year ago.
Sanofi said the sector generated around US$10bn in annual sales last year, dealing with around 181,000 people affected by the disorder which prevents the blood from clotting properly.
The French giant – valued at over US$100bn – added that the acquisition would be immediately accretive to its business earnings per share in the full 2018 financial year and up to 5% accretive for the following year.
Shares rocketed in New York over 61% to US$103.60.