Bayer to pay $2.4 bn to buy Norway cancer firm
Bayer has offered to pay $2.4 billion for Norway’s Algeta. The deal would boost Bayer’s drugs division by giving it outright control over Xofigo, a drug the two have developed jointly since 2009 and started selling in the US this year
Bayer plans to buy cancer drug firm Algeta for $2.4 billion
Bayer has offered to pay $2.4 billion for Norway’s Algeta, its partner for a new prostate cancer treatment, at a 27 percent premium to the stock’s last close. The deal would boost Bayer’s drugs division by giving it outright control over Xofigo, a drug the two have developed jointly since 2009 and started selling in the US this year.
Investors, however, bet that the German drugs and chemicals group has a fight on its hands and Algeta’s Chief Financial Officer said that rival bids could not be ruled out. Algeta shares jumped by a third in early trade to a record 349.7 Norwegian crowns, well above Bayer’s bid of 336 crowns.
The Norwegian company said it was in early discussions that might or might not lead to a transaction. A Bayer spokesman confirmed it had made an offer but said it did not want to provide details at this point. The decision to go public with the preliminary offer followed a leak in the German media overnight.
For Bayer, Algeta fits with chief executive Marijn Dekkers’ strategy of driving growth by building up the pharmaceuticals division, which now overshadows chemicals in importance.
