Shire, one of Britain’s biggest drug companies, sealed a $32 billion deal yesterday to buy Baxalta, the American rival it has been courting since August, in an attempt to become a world leader in medicines for rare diseases.
The deal, which continues a hot streak of healthcare mergers and acquisitions, represents the fourth biggest overseas takeover by a UK listed company, behind Vodafone’s acquisitions of Mannesmann and AirTouch, and BP’s $53 billion deal with Amoco.
Shire will pay $45.57 a share for Baxalta, including $18 in cash and the remainder in shares. This represents a 37.5 per cent premium over the US company’s stock price before its initial offer was made public on August 3, weeks after Baxalta was spun off from Baxter, the US