Shire shares in spotlight as FTSE gains

Market report Scott Reid

Shares in pharma heavyweight Shire helped support the Footsie after the London-listed Irish group looked set to become the centre of a takeover tussle between Botox maker Allergan and Japan’s Takeda.

Shire revealed that it had rebuffed three offers from Takeda, the latest worth £44 billion, because they “significantly undervalued the company, its growth prospects and pipeline”. Shortly after, fellow Irish firm Allergan disclosed that it is also weighing up a bid for Shire, whose shares closed up almost 6 per cent at 3,975p.

The strong performance helped the benchmark FTSE 100 Index close up 11.58 points at 7,328.92.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “Stocks are mixed today as there has been no change to the global outlook. There has been little in the way of macroeconomic news to jolt the markets one way or another, and for now volatility is sliding.”

At the other end of the top flight, Unilever shares fell 85.5p to 3,861p after the consumer goods giant reported a 5 per cent slump in firstquarter sales.

That was despite the firm upping its dividend and announcing a €6bn (£5.2bn) share buyback programme.

The group’s results come amid investor opposition to basing its headquarters in Rotterdam.

Unilever last month announced it had chosen Rotterdam over London as its new legal headquarters, sparking a backlash by top-ten shareholder Columbia Threadneedle over a lack of engagement regarding its decision. The Londonlisted pharma giant looks set to become the centre of a takeover tussle between Botox maker Allergan and Takeda. The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into defence specialist Ultra Electronics over suspected corruption in Algeria.