Janssen acquires over 90% of Actelion

Actelion has revealed that, following the wrap of its $30 billion deal in January, Janssen Holding has acquired 92.51% of its shares, according to provisional tender results. The figure represents a total of 99,303,760 of the Swiss pharma and biotech company at $280 each of the 107,339,642 of the shares covered in the tender offer.

Following the deal, Actelion has plans to spin out its drug discovery operations and early-stage clinical development assets by creating a new company, which will be known as Idorsia. Shares from this new venture will be awarded to shareholders of Actelion, which will then be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Because of the tender rate of the deal, Actelion expects to be excluded from the Exchange’s SMI blue-chip index.  

The offer is expected to be settled by the second quarter of the year, subject to the satisfaction of the conditions outlined in the tender offer.

The original deal-making process had industry figures watching closely over a period of months as Janssen tenaciously attempted to secure Actelion, which culminated when the former offered the final figure of $30 billion – a sum many believed was an overvaluation, though Janssen sees the move as a key way to expand its rare disease portfolio.