Shire mulls $18-bn takeover of Swiss biotech firm Actelion: report

Irish drug giant Shire Plc is considering a takeover of Swiss biotech group Actelion Ltd for approximately £12 billion ($18.3 billion), Sunday Times reported yesterday citing unnamed sources.

The paper said Actelion, Europe's biggest biotech firm, snubbed an informal offer by Shire few weeks ago.

It is believed that the Irish drug maker offered 160 Swiss francs per share of Actelion, which represents a hefty 20-per cent premium to the stock's closing price of 132 francs on Friday.

When approached by Reuters, both Shire and Actelion spokespersons declined to comment on market speculations.

Basel-based Actelion, established in 1997, is a biotech major having 30 affiliates around the world, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and a number of EU countries.

Actelion's first quarter earnings exceeded analysts' forecasts with 10 per cent increase in sales at 515 Swiss francs helped by its newly launched heart and lung drug Opsumit in the US and in Europe alongside its best-selling hypertension drug Tracleer.

The company expects the trend to continue in additional markets, and raised its full-year guidance to ''low double-digit percentage core earnings.''

Dublin-headquartered Shire, a constituent of FTSE 100, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on innovative therapeutic areas including neuroscience, extremely rare and life-threatening diseases, ophthalmology, haematology etc. The company has presence in 34 countries and its products are available in 68 countries around the world.

Shire has around 5,300 employees and reported revenue of $6 billion in 2014.

For the first quarter, the drug giant reported a better-than expected 20-per cent increase in earnings on the back of its new drug for the treatment of eating disorders.

Last year, US drug giant AbbVie pulled its $54-billion takeover offer for Shire after the US government clampdown on companies acquiring businesses abroad to reduce their US tax liability (See: AbbVie to reconsider $55-bn Shire deal).