Great maneuvers in the pharmaceutical sector. The Swiss giant Novartis announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase the American The Medicines Company. Price: $85 per share in cash, for an overall valuation of the company which close to $10 billion (9,7). The offer therefore incorporates a premium of 41% compared to the average value recorded by the stock market of The Medicines Company in the last 30 days (60,3 dollars).
Novartis is a global giant with a monstrous $200 billion market capitalization, while The Medicines Company – headquartered in New Jersey and listed on the Nasdaq – is a biotech company and its best-selling drug isInclisiran, which serves to reduce cholesterol for patients at cardiovascular risk.
With this acquisition, Novartis aims to counter the challenge of generic medicine manufacturers and to strengthen itself in the heart care sector. In this sector, in fact, the Swiss group has lost market share with the expiration of the patent of the drug Diovan, whose sales reached $6 billion a year.
The transaction has already received the unanimous green light of both boards of directors, it is expected to close within the first quarter next year and will be financed by the Swiss with existing capital and with short and long-term loans.
The operation is part of the strategy of the CEO of Novartis, Vas Narasimhan, which aims to strengthen the medicines portfolio with new products.
On the Zurich Stock Exchange, Novartis shares they are up 0,4% by mid-morning. In the same minutes, theEURO Stoxx 600 index Pharmaceuticals earn 0,73%.
