Deals
Roche's 138% Premium for Spark Shows M&A Arms Race for New Drugs
- Average premium paid in pharma M&A has jumped to 78.6% in 2019
- Roche purchase of Spark follows pricey deal for Immune Design
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Shareholders in Spark Therapeutics Inc. woke up Monday to news of a windfall: Roche Holding AG agreed to buy the Philadelphia-based gene therapy company at a price that’s more than double where the shares closed on Friday.
Such massive premiums are growing more common in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries this year as drugmakers, eager to snap up lucrative medicines, pay prices that will deter potential counterbidders.