The bidding war for pharmaceutical company Shire (LON:SHP) took another unexpected turn last night, with Dublin-based Allergan U-turning on its interest in the company.
Shire rejected an earlier £43 billion offer from Japanese company Takeda on Thursday morning, making it the third offer from Takeda that Shire had rejected. Later that day Allergan confirmed its interest in the group, before released a statement in the evening backtracking on their earlier statement.
Reuters said Allergan’s investors were worried that the group was overstretching its resources in considering a deal. Allergan’s initial statement said its interest in Shire was part of the company “evaluating a full range of potential strategic actions” to create value for shareholders.
Shire are now left without any bidders, despite stating that it would be willing to consider another offer from Takeda after their last rejection.
“At the board’s request Shire’s advisers entered into a dialogue with Takeda’s advisers to discuss whether a further, more attractive, proposal may be forthcoming and to understand the basis on which such a proposal would be made.
“The board and management of Shire remain committed to enhancing shareholder value and are focused on fully evaluating internal and external opportunities to maximise value for shareholders, including any further proposals from Takeda”, the company said in a statement.
Shares in Shire are currently trading down 3.96 percent at 1,817.50 (0904GMT).
