>>> Shire: hedge funds bet on deal proceeding; Takeda founding family makes late

Shire: hedge funds bet on deal proceeding; Takeda founding family makes late attempt to block deal - reports
02 DEC 2018
The hedge funds Paulson and Baupost believe that Takeda Pharmaceutical’s [TYO:4502] agreed takeover bid for the Ireland-based biotechnology company Shire [LON:SHP] will go ahead, The Mail on Sunday reported. The newspaper said Paulson and Baupost have in the past few days discreetly made big bets that the GBP 46bn (EUR 51.84bn) takeover will proceed, but did not cite a source for the information.
News emerged on 20 November that Baupost had acquired more than 10m Shire shares, valued at GBP 460m, the report said. Baupost launched a substantial short position in Takeda’s stock worth about GBP 120m the same day, betting on a fall in the Japanese group’s share price, the item added.
Paulson bought 9.4m shares with a value exceeding GBP 420m a couple of weeks ago, the article added.
Separately, The Sunday Times reported that Kazu Takeda, a prominent member of the Japanese company’s founding family, is planning a press conference on Monday, 3 December, in a late attempt to block the Shire deal.
Dissident Takeda shareholders campaigning under the name Takeda’s Bright Future argue that the deal could be “disastrous” for the Japanese group, the item said. Takeda’s Bright Future is looking to win the support of Takeda’s retail shareholders and won the backing of former Takeda Chairman Kunio Takeda last month, the newspaper added.
Takeda shareholders will at an extraordinary meeting on 5 December vote on a share issue to fund the Shire deal, the report noted. The share issue proposal requires 75% support, the item said.
Shire’s share price closed 45p up at 4555p in London on Friday, 30 November, giving the company a market capitalisation of GBP 41.67bn.