Sepracor Rises on Reported Sale to Dainippon for $2.7 Billion
By Tom Randall
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Sepracor rose the most in more than five years on the Nasdaq, before trading in the stock was halted, after Nikkei English News reported that the company agreed to be bought by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. for about $2.71 billion (250 billion yen).
Trading was halted at 2:18 p.m. New York time pending news. Amy Trevvett, a spokeswoman for Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Sepracor didn’t immediately return a phone call for comment. Julissa Viana, a U.S. spokeswoman for Dainippon, said she couldn’t confirm the Nikkei report at this time, which cited unnamed sources.
Dainippon plans to make Sepracor a wholly owned subsidiary, boosting the company’s lineup of central nervous system treatments and other drugs, Nikkei said. Sepracor plans to seek U.S. approval for its lurasidone schizophrenia treatment next year, and the company has a sales force of more than 1,000 that Dainippon wants to acquire, Nikkei said.
“The yen is very strong, and Japanese companies have been very active in this space over the last year,” said Les Funtleyder, an analyst with Miller Tabak & Co. in New York, in a telephone interview. “It’s been pretty widely known that Sepracor has been shopping itself for a while. It’s a cheap company, on a valuation basis.”
Sepracor shares rose $5.07, or 28 percent, to $23.10 as of 2:03 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Earlier the shares jumped as much as 31 percent in the biggest percentage intraday gain since March 1, 2004.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 2, 2009 14:33 EDT |
