Takeda

Finsbury is handling Takeda Pharmaceuticals' fifth bid for rare drug specialist Shire PLC of Dublin.

If successful, the sweetened $60B cash/stock offer would mark the largest-ever Japanese acquisition of a western firm and propel Takeda into the top-ranks of global drug companies.

Takeda notes the improved bid represents a 58 percent premium over the closing price of Shire shares on March 23, the day before rumors surfaced about a takeover bid.

It said that completion of the deal would give Shire shareholders "a very meaningful stake in a leading global biopharmaceutical company" and benefits from the synergies flowing from the deal.

Shire is considering Takeda's latest bid.

Finsbury's London team of James Murgatroyd Rollo Head and Anjali Unnikrishnan are working the Takeda bid with Kal Goldberg and Chris Ryall in New York.