Shire bidder Takeda to continue pursuit of M&A after deal completion - translated
07 JAN 2019
Takeda Pharmaceutical [TYO:4502] will continue to pursue M&A deals after the completing the acquisition of Shire Plc [LON:SHP], the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
The Japanese-language report cited CEO Christophe Weber, who said at a press conference on 7 January concerning the acquisition of Shire that going forward the field of immunotherapy will be a focus of investment, adding that it will be difficult to avoid pursuing M&A due to the long time commitment required for research in the sector.
However, there are risks to conducting large-scale M&A deals, the report said, noting that as a result of the JPY 6trn (USD 55bn) deal for Shire, which is set to complete today (8 January) Takeda will have around JPY 5.4trn in interest-bearing debt, or roughly eight times what the company had at the end of March 2018, to consider.