Shire preparing fresh bid for Baxalta

Pharmaceutical firm Shire was about to make a fresh takeover bid for US biotechnology business Baxalta, it was reported on Tuesday night.

The news came four months after Baxalta rejected an unsolicited £20bn offer. At the time, Baxalta’s board considered the offer to be too low.

A source told Reuters on Tuesday that Shire had asked advisors to renew the takeover effort. It’s understood Shire is working with Deutsche Bank, Evercore and Morgan Stanley on the offer.

Baxalta’s shares rose to an intra-day high of $37.50 (£24.90) after the report surfaced - a gain of more than 10%. Shire considered Baxalta stock to be worth $45.23 in its previous takeover bid.

Should a deal go ahead, the combined companies would have product sales of around $20bn by 2020, according to Reuters, with percentage annual growth in the double-digits.

Baxalta was a new entrant to the market, having been spun off by Baxter International in July.

Shire had shown its thirst for expansion in previous weeks, having announced the acquisition of of Dyax Corporation three weeks prior, for $5.9bn.