1040 Wednesday 5 December 2018

This morning in Osaka, shareholders of Takeda Pharmaceutical voted to approve a takeover of London listed bio-pharmaceutical company Shire by a 90% margin. The deal thought to be worth £46.3bn will today be voted on by Shire shareholders. If the acquisition goes through, Takeda will earn its ranks amongst the top ten drug makers in the world and it will become the largest overseas takeover by a Japanese company.

The addition of Shire’s products and services will bolster the firm’s cancer, stomach and brain drug portfolios; however there are concerns from existing shareholders. One of the largest concerns over the deal is the large amount of debt that Takeda has accumulated with the total of bank loans now standing at $30.9bn. The Takeda CEO, Christophe Weber, believes that the deal will become profitable by cutting costs.

This morning shares in Takeda closed up 1%, but they have dropped 25% since the takeover was first discussed back in March. Shire stock is up 2.2% in early trading in London. Should the deal be accepted by Shire shareholders, it is expected to be completed by 8th January pending a court hearing.

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