Acquisitions · Pharmaceuticals (transplant)
Asahi Kasei to buy transplant drug maker Veloxis for about $1.3 billion
- Buyer
- Asahi Kasei (via Asahi Kasei Pharma Denmark) (Tokyo)
- Target
- Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Copenhagen, Denmark (operations based in Cary, North Carolina)
- Value
- About $1.3B (about ¥140B; DKK 6 a share tender)
- Status
- Agreed on November 25, 2019; completed on March 3, 2020.
- Date
- 2019-11-25
Asahi Kasei agreed to buy Veloxis Pharmaceuticals for about $1.3 billion through a tender offer of DKK 6 a share. Veloxis is listed in Copenhagen, but its business is run from Cary, North Carolina, through its wholly owned US subsidiary. The company sells a drug used to prevent organ rejection after kidney transplants.
Why it matters
The deal gave Asahi Kasei's pharmaceuticals business its own US sales base in transplant medicine, adding to its US health care presence through the medical device maker ZOLL.
Structure
The offer was made by Asahi Kasei Pharma Denmark, a wholly owned subsidiary, under Danish law, because Veloxis's parent company is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. It covered both shares and warrants. The parent owns 100% of Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. in North Carolina, where the business is based.
Timeline
Asahi Kasei announced the plan on November 25, 2019. The tender offer opened on December 12, 2019 and was initially set to expire on January 14, 2020, with the option to extend it if conditions were not met. The acquisition was completed on March 3, 2020.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
