Takeda's Shire takeover approved by both sets of shareholders

Takeda Pharmaceutical's £46bn takeover of London-listed pharmaceutical group Shire has been approved by both sets of shareholders on Wednesday.

Takeda said earlier that 88% of its shareholders voted in favour of the deal, while 99.8% of Shire's shareholders voted for, meaning it is now due to complete by 8 January 2019.

Takeda's president and chief executive officer Christophe Weber said: "We are delighted that our shareholders have given their strong support to our acquisition of Shire.

"With shareholder approval secured, we are looking forward to closing the acquisition in the coming weeks to create a more competitive, agile, highly profitable, and therefore more resilient company, poised to deliver highly innovative medicines and transformative care to patients around the world."

At 1430 GMT, Shire shares were up 2.9% to 4,683p.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said it looks like Takeda shareholders "have swallowed their concerns" about the debt required the takeover.

"With the former chairman and member of the founding family Kazuhisa Takeda lining up against it, there was no guarantee the deal would go through but a recent £1bn bet by US hedge funds that it would receive the necessary stamp of approval gave some indication of the way the winds were blowing.

"Progress is likely to be swift from here on in, assuming Shire shareholders also vote to approve the transaction later today, with completion expected early in 2019.

"Whether this proves a smart move on Takeda’s part is open to debate. Sometimes deals this large gain a momentum of their own with management afraid to go back on a plan for fear it will undermine their credibility.

"Shire has endured a volatile few years but this takeover arguably dilutes the diversity and richness of the FTSE 100 index in the same way as earlier bids for technology champion ARM and pay-TV giant Sky. UK firms have been vulnerable to foreign buyers thanks to the Brexit-inspired weakness in sterling."

Market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets noted that Takeda will end up with an additional $47bn and in return the new group will have global revenue of roughly $32bn. "This seems like they are paying a high price for a relatively small amount," he said.

"Margins in the pharmaceutical sector are dwindling, so now might not be the best time bulk up on debt. Adding to that, at the start of the year we heard that Amazon, JP Morgan’s boss, Jamie Dimon, and Warren Buffett are looking to launch a healthcare initiative, which might bring about massive disruption to the sector," Madden added.