The healthcare company’s shares were trading at 4093p for a market cap of £24.2bn shortly before the close of trading.
The agreed terms of $18 in cash and 0.1482 Shire American depositary receipts per Baxalta share values the company at $32bn. This represents a 37.5% premium over Baxalta’s undisturbed share price.
This was initially seen as too high a price for Shire to pay by many yesterday, sending its shares into a steep fall.
However given more time to digest and analyse the situation the market has been more forgiving today and many investors appear to have seen the price slide as a buying opportunity.
Shire was rebuffed in an attempt to reach a deal with Baxalta last summer based only on a share exchange, but the addition of the $18 cash component to the proposition swung a deal.
The top ten Shire shareholder list features a number of well know asset management firms including BlackRock which owns shares through various funds, Fidelity, Legal & General Investment Management and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Baxalta has specialised in developing treatment for rare diseases and Shire is hoping to make itself the leader in this part of the healthcare market as a result of the tie-up.
The deal is also expected to achieve significant tax savings as Baxalta’s legal address will shift to that of Shire’s in Dublin.
