Shareholders approve Takeda’s $59bn takeover of Shire

Takeda’s $59 billion acquisition of Shire has been backed by shareholders from both companies, clearing the way for the deal to close early next year. Shareholder approval was the final hurdle to clear the deal, after a small but influential minority actively campaigned against it. Including members of the founding family, the rebel shareholders were concerned about the level of debt required to finance the deal – Takeda will take out a bank loan worth almost $32 billion to finance it. The new Takeda will be the eighth largest pharma in the world by revenue, following the move that harks back to the era of pharma mega-mergers when Pfizer gobbled up several large drug firms such as Wyeth. But in the end, this was a decisive victory for Takeda’s senior management team, led by CEO Christophe Weber.
At an extraordinary general meeting held in Osaka, 88% of Takeda’s shareholders voted in favor of the deal and allowed Weber’s team to go ahead and close it in early January.
In a separate meeting yesterday, Shire’s shareholders almost unanimously approved the deal. The Shire is registered in Jersey, and the final stage will be a hearing at the Jersey Court held on 3 January. This is just a formality, and the deal is set to close by 8 January, in what will be the largest overseas takeover by a Japanese company. The deal has now cleared all the major antitrust hurdles after European Union officials last month said it could go ahead as Takeda sells gastro drug Entyvio (vedolizumab).