Shire studies latest offer from Takeda

Shire is considering a new offer from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. after the Japanese drugmaker revised its roughly $60 billion bid for the biotechnology company once again.

Shire’s board “is considering its position” on a new bid, the company said Tuesday after Bloomberg News reported that the companies were nearing a preliminary agreement. The Massachusetts drugmaker did not disclose the value of Takeda’s latest offer.

The new proposal marks at least the fifth attempt by Takeda to woo Shire since it first expressed interest in a takeover less than four weeks ago. Discussions have revolved around a higher price as well as a possible increase in the cash component, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Under British takeover rules, Takeda must announce a firm offer or abandon its pursuit by Wednesday afternoon. The companies may seek an extension from authorities to compete their talks, the people said, declining to be identified because the discussions are confidential. Representatives for Takeda and Shire declined to comment.

Shire shares surged as much as 6.2 percent in London, valuing the company at about $52 billion. Takeda has declined about 24 percent this year, valuing the company at about $35 billion.

Acquiring Shire would vault Takeda, which has few late-stage experimental drugs in its pipeline, into the ranks of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies. The Japanese company last week raised its offer to nearly $66 per share and lifted the cash portion of the bid after three prior proposals were rejected. Friday’s proposal included just over $29 per share in cash and about $36 apiece in new stock for Shire.

Takeda has been expanding its takeover ambitions under Chief Executive Officer Christophe Weber, seeking growth overseas amid patent expirations and a shrinking domestic population. A Shire takeover would be by far the largest deal made by Taketa, and it would bring it medicines for rare diseases including hemophilia — a field that’s luring a growing number of drugmakers because they can charge more for unique lifesaving drugs than for routine treatment.

S&P Global Ratings has said the acquisition could hurt Takeda’s credit score.

Ruth David, Manuel Baigorri and Dinesh Nair are Bloomberg writers. Email: rdavid9@bloomberg.net, mbaigorri@bloomberg.net, dnair5@bloomberg.net