Astellas to Make Hostile Bid to Acquire CV Therapeutics Article
By HIROYUKI KACHI
TOKYO -- Astellas Pharma Inc. said it will launch a roughly $1.1 billion offer to buy U.S. biopharmaceutical company CV Therapeutics Inc., in an unusual move by a Japanese company to make a hostile bid for a foreign company.
The Tokyo-based drug maker said it would conduct the offer for shares on the market between Friday and March 27, and is offering $16 a share -- the same price it offered in a bid that CV Therapeutics' board rejected earlier this year.
The bid is the latest by Japanese companies seeking to expand their revenue sources through acquisitions overseas, with a strong yen making targets relatively cheaper. In 2008, Japan's outbound cross-border acquisition activity hit a record $76 billion, more than three times the $23.5 billion of such deals in 2007, according to preliminary figures from data provider Dealogic.
Astellas's decision to make a hostile bid is one of only a few, so far unsuccessful, moves of its kind by Japanese companies.
Last year, semiconductor-equipment maker Axcelis Technologies Inc. of Massachusetts rejected a sweetened unsolicited bid to be acquired by Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. for $6 a share, or about $613 million, saying the offer was too low. That sparked a prolonged battle that ended when Sumitomo abandoned its bid in September.
Astellas has been rejected repeatedly in its efforts to talk with CV Therapeutics about a friendly $1.1 billion takeover.
In a letter to Astellas last week, CV Therapeutics said its board concluded the proposal "significantly undervalues" the company and its potential growth opportunities, and isn't in the best interests of the company and its stockholders.
In January, Astellas offered $16 a share, which represented a 41% premium to CV's closing price of $11.35 the day before the offer was made. CV closed Thursday at $15.86.
Astellas is mainly interested in drugs CV Therapeutics already markets, namely Ranexa for treating chronic angina and Lexiscan for detecting coronary-artery disease.
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at hiroyuki.kachi@wsj.com |
