Shire’s share price jumped 21% this morning on confirmation of interest in a takeover by Takeda.
The Japanese Big Pharma firm said the potential merger would create a leader in specialized medicines through the addition of Shire’s rare diseases portfolio, as well as enhance Takeda's R&D strategy and “reinforce a strong and large-molecule focused late-stage pipeline.”
An acquisition will also “balance Takeda's geographic focus to align with the market opportunity in the US,” the firm said.
An official bid has not been made, and Shire’s board has not been approached, Takeda confirmed, without commenting on a possible price for the UK-based firm. However, equity research firm Jefferies estimated Shire's value in a note of being around $55bn.
Shire did not comment at the time of going to press.
Manufacturing network
If a deal goes through, Takeda would also considerably bolster its manufacturing network.
According to its website, Takeda has 25 sites in 18 countries, including joint operations run by joint ventures in China, India, and Indonesia. The firm is also close to acquiring stem cell therapy partner TiGenix, which would add a recently expanded facility in Madrid, Spain.
Shire’s network was bolstered by its $32bn takeover of Baxalta in 2016, and at the time added 13 sites to its own operations in California, Massachusetts, Austria, and Italy. Since then Shire has closed a couple of facilities (here and here), though us close to completing a $400m biologics facility in County Meath, Ireland.