Irish biopharmaceutical company Shire has rejected a £44bn takeover offer from Takeda Pharmaceutical, the third offer made by the Japanese company.
The two previous acquisition proposals made by Takeda were for £41bn, £44 per share, and £43bn, £45.50 a share, respectively.
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If accepted and executed, the bids would have provided Shire with approximately 50% ownership of the enlarged Takeda.
Shire, however, rejected all three as it believes that they ‘significantly undervalue’ the company, its pipeline and growth prospects.
The companies are in continued discussions, while Shire is exploring both internal and external options.
Takeda’s press statement reads: “Takeda and its board reiterate that it will remain disciplined with respect to the terms of any such offer.
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By GlobalData“As previously stated, Takeda intends to maintain its well-established dividend policy and investment grade credit rating.”
The company believes that this acquisition will drive transformation and support its research and development, modality-diverse pipeline and financial strength.
Under UK takeover rules, Takeda has until April 25 to make a firm offer or walk away, after it said last month it was considering a bid.
Shire has been under pressure in the past 12 months, with its shares down by a third before Takeda’s interest was made public, due to greater competition from generic drugs and debts from its $32bn acquisition of Baxalta in 2016.
Meanwhile, another Irish pharmaceutical company, Allergan, also revealed it did not intend to make an offer to acquire Shire.
A statement from Allergan read: “Allergan continues its ongoing process of evaluating a full range of potential strategic actions that will create value for shareholders, such as divestitures, combinations and acquisitions.”
