Takeda to buy Shire for £46 billion

The boards of both companies have finally settled on terms of the deal, which will see the Japanese drugs giant pay out $30.33 in cash and either 0.839 New Takeda Shares or 1.678 Takeda ADSs for each Shire share.

The bid represents a 59.6 percent premium to Shire’s closing price on March 27, before Takeda unveiled its intentions to buy the company.

The acquisition will leave Shire shareholders with an approximate 50 percent stake in the combined group, which is to be headquartered in Japan.

The move ends weeks of wrangling between the two firms, during which Takeda put forward four unsuccessful proposals for buying the business.

"Shire’s highly complementary product portfolio and pipeline, as well as experienced employees, will accelerate our transformation for a stronger Takeda," said Takeda’s chief executive Christophe Weber, commenting on the deal.

"Together, we will be a leader in providing targeted treatments in gastroenterology, neuroscience, oncology, rare diseases and plasma-derived therapies."

"With this combination, Shire helps create an even stronger biopharmaceutical company, with a robust R&D pipeline and expanded global footprint," added the firm’s chairman Susan Kilsby.

"We firmly believe that this combination recognises the strong growth potential of our leading products and innovative pipeline and is in the best interests of our shareholders, our patients and the communities we serve."

According to the Financial Times, if successfully completed the deal will "rank as one of the industry’s biggest, and mark a significant moment in the evolution of Japan Inc as a global dealmaker."

The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2019.

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