Deals

Takeda Closes in on $64 Billion Shire Deal to Join Pharma Elite

Takeda shares tumble 9.3% in Tokyo trading on new bid
Companies receive U.K. extension of deadline to May 8

Bloomberg’s Kazunori Takada reports on Takeda’s proposed Shire takeover.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Lisa Du and Maiko Takahashi

April 24, 2018 at 11:26 PM UTC

Updated on

April 25, 2018 at 10:39 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. reached a preliminary agreement to buy Shire Plc with a sweetened takeover offer of about 46 billion pounds ($64 billion), closing in on a bold transaction to gain a foothold in one of the pharma industry’s most coveted niches.

The U.K.-listed company’s board said it was willing to recommend the latest offer to shareholders on Wednesday, capping a month-long tug of war in which its Japanese suitor made five successively higher proposals, two of them in the last few days.