Deals
Otsuka Bid for Astex Seen Undervaluing Cancer-Drug Maker
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Otsuka Holdings Co.’s offer of as much as $886 million for Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is too low and investors should hold out for more, two analysts and a shareholder said.
Otsuka, the maker of the mood-stabilizing drug Abilify, said in a statement today it will pay $8.50 a share for the Dublin, California-based maker of cancer medicines. That’s 27 percent higher than Astex’s closing stock price on Sept. 3, the day before the deal was reported by the Nikkei newspaper.