Takeda Takes on Shire for $81.5 Billion

Big Pharma deals are back, more than ever. After six weeks of offers, refusals, talks and more, Japanese drug giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (OTCQB: TKPYY) reached an agreement to acquire Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) for $81.5 billion, including assumed debt of $19.54 billion. It’s the largest healthcare deal announced ever, unless you count Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) hostile stalking of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) through much of 2014, with bids reported to be around $118 billion. And we don’t. Looking back over past pharmaceutical deals (that closed), this takes the record from Pfizer, which announced its acquisition of Wyeth, Inc. for approximately $78.5 billion, including $10.5 billion... Read More »
Takeda Takes Aim at Shire

Takeda Takes Aim at Shire

Big Pharma deals are making a comeback. Or so it seems from the speculation around Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG). Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (OTCQB: TKPYY) has been buzzing around the UK-based Shire for nearly a month, making bid after bid. It seemed to begin on April 16, when Shire sold its oncology business to the French drug maker Servier, for $2.4 billion in cash. In 2017, the 0ncology business generated revenues of $262 million. The total consideration represents a revenue multiple of 9.2x 2017 revenues. The acquisition gives Servier a direct commercial presence in the United States and boosts its presence in cancer. Servier’s products will be commercialized in the... Read More »
For a Short Month, February Was Long on Deal Volume

For a Short Month, February Was Long on Deal Volume

Ever wonder why February is the shortest month of the year? It didn’t even exist on the old Roman calendar, when there were only 10 months in a year. Later, the calendar was revised to include 12 lunar cycles totaling 355 days and January and February were added, with February as the last month of the year. In Julius Caesar’s day, the calendar was changed yet again to align with the solar cycle, which amounted to 365 days. And because a complete revolution of the Earth around the sun is actually 365-and-one-quarter days, an extra day is tacked onto the end of every fourth year, which we call a Leap Year. You remembered that from third grade, of course. All that brings us to why comparing... Read More »

M and A Slows in Pharma Sector in 2016

The pharmaceutical industry has been the behemoth of healthcare M&A, usually accounting for the largest dollar amounts spent in any given year and often one of the most active in terms of number of transactions. But since its record year in 2014, this sector has been on a slow decline. Big Pharma deal volume dropped 9% since 2015, from 171 that year to 156 deals in 2016. Dollars spent slid even further, down 39%, from $138.4 billion in 2015 to just $84.45 billion in 2016. The Pharma sector is notorious for its multi-billion dollar mega deals. The largest pharma deal in 2016 is a prime example, as it was also the largest deal of the year. That was Shire plc’s... Read More »

The Biggest Deals of 2016

It’s been a busy year for healthcare deal making. As of December 2, the combined total spending was $239.1 billion, going to finance 1,419 transactions. That’s 40% behind the $400 billion spent in all of 2015, but just 7% behind last year’s deal volume of 1,520 deals. Thirty-six deals of $1.0 billion or higher have been announced to date in 2016, with a current total of $184.2 billion. These deals comprise 77% of spending so far, and no doubt there will be a few more before New Year’s Eve. By comparison, 2015 ended with a combined total spending of $400.6 billion on 1,520 transactions. Fifty-two of those transactions reported spending of $1.0 billion or higher, for... Read More »