As a result of slowing growth at home, Takeda, like many Japanese companies, has been busy expanding business overseas. Last year, it purchased Ariad Pharmaceuticals, allowing them to further develop their oncology unit. Takeda’s latest acquisition will be Shire for roughly 46 billion pounds ($62.2 billion) in a deal expected to officially close in the first half of 2019.
Christophe Weber, Takeda CEO, commented on the acquisition of Shire’s “highly complimentary product portfolio and pipeline,” saying that it will accelerate Takeda into a strong company, targeting gastroenterology, neuroscience, oncology, rare disease, and plasma-derived therapies. Takeda also announced that the deal will cut R&D costs by about $600 million, with overall savings of $1.4 billion by the third year.
To help finance the deal, the company received a $31 billion bridge loan, alarming some investors. However, Takeda announced their intention to reduce the debt quickly.
(Source: Takeda; The Associated Press)
