After a five month wait, and the lawyers working over Christmas hammering out the details, the deal could be announced as soon as tomorrow morning, reports CityAM.
Over the summer, FTSE-100 listed Shire made an all-share $30bn (£19.2bn) offer to pay $45 per share, a 36 per cent premium, which was rebuffed. Baxalta said the price was “nowhere near” the value the board was seeking. Shire came back to the table with a larger cash component , it was reported late last year.
The new deal would value Baxalta at $48 per share, with 40 per cent paid in cash, equivalent to $20 per share.
The merger could be announced at a global pharmaceutical conference in San Francisco, The Sunday Times reported, as fears Baxalta investors would face a hefty tax bill on completed have now been resolved. All that’s needed now is a last independent lawyer’s sign-off.
The combined company is projected to have revenue of $20bn (£13.4bn) by 2020. Shire said in a statement that joining the two drug makers could create a global leader in rare diseases with multiple billion-dollar franchises.
