Shire
to buy Dyax for $5.9 billion, still wants Baxalta
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[November 02, 2015]
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON (Reuters) - Shire Plc has agreed to
buy Dyax Corp for about $5.9 billion to gain access to the drug
developer's late-stage experimental treatment for a dangerous
inflammatory disease that can block breathing.
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The deal is the latest in a string of purchases by the acquisitive
Dublin-headquartered company, which is also seeking to buy Baxalta
to establish itself as the world leader in medicines for rare
diseases.
The offer price of $37.30 per share represents a 35.5 percent
premium to Dyax's closing stock price on Friday.
Dyax shareholders will also get a non-tradable contingent value
right potentially worth $4.00 a share, or an additional $646
million, if Dyax's DX-2930 drug is approved for hereditary
angioedema (HAE).
Shares in the U.S. biotech firm jumped to $37 in premarket trading
on Monday, while Shire's stock in London fell 1.2 percent.
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Shire is already locked in a battle to acquire Baxalta, although a
steep drop in its shares has led some investors to suspect that
takeover bid - worth $30 billion when it was announced in August -
may flounder.
But Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov insisted his group had
capacity to do both deals.
"Even with this transaction, we will continue to have the financial
firepower to pursue other value-added strategic acquisitions,
including Baxalta,” he said.
Dyax already has one HAE drug on the market, called Kalbitor, but
its sales totaled only $68 million last year and consensus analyst
forecasts do not predict it will exceed annual sales of $100
million, according to Thomson Reuters Cortellis.
By contrast, Shire believes DX-2930 has potential to expand the
number of HAE patients treated and achieve annual worldwide sales of
up to $2 billion, while enjoying exclusivity beyond 2030. The new
drug will complement Shire's own existing HAE treatments Firazyr and
Cinryze.
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Shire has secured a $5.6 billion bank loan, which, in addition to
the amount undrawn under a $2.1 billion revolving credit facility,
will be available to finance the transaction, which is expected to
close in the first half of 2016.
Deutsche Bank, Evercore and Morgan Stanley advised Shire, while
Centerview Partners acted for Dyax.
Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are also providing Shire with
financing for the deal.
(Additional reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Mark Potter and Jason Neely)
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