Irish Drugmaker Rejects Takeda’s $60 Billion Offer

Takeda Pharmaceutical confirmed Thursday that it seeks to buy Shire, though the Irish drugmaker—whose market value trumps that of its Japanese peer—agreed only to talks with the suitor after finding its proposal unsatisfactory, Nikkei reported. Japan’s biggest drugmaker by sales proposes buying all of Shire for 42.7 billion pounds ($60.7 billion) in cash and stock, according to a company statement. The bid values Shire at 46.50 pounds per share, a 24% premium to the London-listed company’s closing price Wednesday. Takeda would pay cash equal to 17.75 pounds per share and the rest in new Takeda stock. The deal would mark the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese corporation, surpassing SoftBank Group’s 24 billion pound purchase of British chip designer ARM Holdings in 2016. Takeda would need to issue over 4 trillion yen ($37.1 billion) in new shares to complete the takeover, a sum on par with the group’s market capitalization as of Thursday. Shire’s board of directors rejected this proposal, saying Thursday it undervalued the company.