Astellas Pharma agrees to buy Iveric Bio for $5.9 billion
Zarina Lukash/iStock via Getty Images
Astellas Pharma Inc. (OTCPK:ALPMF) agreed to acquire Iveric Bio (NASDAQ:ISEE) for $5.9 billion to add ophthalmology capabilities to the Japanese pharmaceutical giant.
Under the agreement, Astellas (OTCPK:ALPMF) agreed to purchase Iveric Bio (ISEE) for $40 a share, representing a 22% premium to Iveric's closing price on Friday. The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of Astellas' fiscal year 2023 (third calendar quarter of 2023).
Funds for the purchase consist of newly procured funds from bank loans and issuing of commercial paper totaling approximately 800 billion yen and existing cash on hand, according to a statement late Sunday. Astellas expects to repay this debt within the next five to seven years. Completion of the deal is not subject to a financing condition.
The Iveric Bio (ISEE) deal comes after Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS), which is also focused on the ophthalmology field, has attracted takeover interest from large pharmaceutical companies. Apellis (APLS) shares surged 16% on April 3 amid the takeover report, while Iveric gained 8.9%.
The Astella deal for Iveric (ISEE) at $40 a share represents a 64% premium the Iveric's share price on March 31, the day before the takeover speculation on fellow ophthalmology company Apellis (APLS).
Apellis (APLS) is expected to report Q1 results on Thursday.
For more on Iveric Bio, Apellis
Recommended For You
Comments (1)
Have a tip? Submit confidentially to our News team. Found a factual error? Report here.
Q2 biopharma M&A bonanza continues.Last month:
BLU to be acquired by $GSK for ~$2B (103% premium)
RXDX to be acquired by $MRK for ~$11B (75% premium)Interesting that $ISEE = one of the most widely held stocks by the 36 biopharma hedge funds in our BiopharmIQ tracker (15/36)$BLU (8/36) and $RXDX (10/36) were some of the most widely held stocks by biopharma hedge funds too.