MW Calliditas Therapeutics' stock surges after $1.1 billion takeover bid
By Eleanor Laise
Offer for kidney-disease drugmaker comes at 83% premium
Calliditas Therapeutics AB's American depositary receipts (CALT) jumped more than 70% premarket on Tuesday after a nearly $1.1 billion takeover bid from Japanese conglomerate Asahi Kasei.
The Asahi Kasei cash offer of 208 Swedish kronor per share represents an 83% premium to the closing price of Calliditas shares on a Swedish exchange Monday.
Stockholm-based Calliditas said that its board unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer.
Calliditas markets Tarpeyo, a drug approved in the U.S. for a kidney disease called immunoglobulin A nephropathy. Such kidney-disease treatments have been the focus of other recent deals in the industry, including Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s $(VRTX)$ offer to acquire Alpine Immune Sciences Inc. (ALPN); and Novartis AG's $(NVS)$ acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics Inc.
The proposed deal with Asahi Kasei highlights the companies' shared commitment to address "the significant unmet medical need in IgA nephropathy with the continued focused development of this first to market product in IgAN," Calliditas said in a release Tuesday.
Asahi Kasei, which sells chemicals and construction materials but also has a healthcare business, said in a release that it aims to expand globally in immunology, transplantation and adjacent diseases, and has been looking for acquisition targets that can fuel its growth strategy for pharmaceutical products.
Through the Calliditas acquisition, Asahi Kasei said it looks to solidify its presence in the U.S. and establish a foothold in Europe, initially focused on research and development.
-Eleanor Laise
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May 28, 2024 08:58 ET (12:58 GMT)
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