Eli Lilly to acquire Morphic via tender offer

American pharmaceuticals company Eli Lilly has struck an agreement to acquire biopharma business Morphic in a deal worth approximately $3.2bn.

Eli Lilly said on Monday that it will commence a tender offer to acquire all of Morphic's outstanding shares for a purchase price of $57.00 per share in cash, representing a 79% premium to the stock's closing price on 5 July.

The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of both companies and was expected to close in the third quarter. Eli Lilly will then acquire any shares of Morphic that have not been tendered in the offer through a second-step merger at the same consideration as paid in the tender offer.

"Oral therapies could open up new possibilities for earlier intervention in diseases like ulcerative colitis, and also provide the potential for combination therapy to help patients with more severe disease," said Lilly's chief scientific officer, Daniel Skovronsky. "We are eager to welcome Morphic colleagues to Lilly as this strategic transaction reinforces our commitment to developing new therapies in the field of gastroenterology, where Lilly has made significant investments to deliver first-in-class molecules for the benefit of patients."

As of 1455 BST, Eli Lilly shares were up 0.40% at $918.22 each.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com