Shire Plc (LON:SHP) is to be gobbled up by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (TYO:4502) after its board unanimously agreed a £46bn bid tabled by its Japanese drugs rival, having spurned four previous approaches.
The clincher appears to be the cash component of the deal, which has been boosted to around £24 a share, making up just under half the £49.01 a share offered.
READ: Shire willing to recommend increased Takeda offer to shareholders
The deal represents a 64% premium to the share price just before Takeda's interest was registered around six weeks ago.
Under UK takeover rules, Shire had until today to say whether it planned to accept the deal. For acquisitive Takeda, this is its biggest ever deal.
Under the terms of the deal, Shire investors will receive $30.33 in cash and either 0.839 new Takeda shares or 1.678 Takeda ADSs for each share, the companies said in a statement.
Shire shareholders will own about half of the combined group after the deal, which will be the biggest takeover in the sector since 2000 if approved by shareholders.
The month-long courtship of Shire culminated in the Dublin-based firm announcing on it is willing to recommend the Takeda takeover deal on April 25 to its shareholders after the Japanese conglomerate upped its offer. The £46bn offer from Takeda was an increase from its previous indicative bid of £43bn.
Shire said then that it that it would extend a regulatory deadline for the takeover negotiations to May 8 to allow Takeda to carry out more due diligence.
Commenting on the deal, Flemming Ornskov, Shire’s chief executive officer said: “With a truly innovative portfolio and pipeline, I believe that the combination of the two companies is in the best interests of shareholders and offers an opportunity to improve the lives of even more patients globally with rare and highly specialised conditions."
In early London trading, Shire shares gained 3.7% at 4,000p.
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