Deal or no deal? When it comes to the rumored buyout of Swiss-based Nycomed by Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical, it's tough to tell. Sources are telling Reuters that Takeda is in talks to buy Nycomed and is working with some Japanese lenders on financing. And Nikkei, the Japanese business daily, reported that the company has agreed to a $12 billion buyout, with a deal announcement planned for Wednesday.
But on the heels of Nikkei's report, Takeda took the trouble to issue a press release specifically denying the news. In the statement, Takeda said it "has not agreed to any such an agreement" and has not decided to make an announcement as reported by certain media publications.
The justifications for the combo remain the same as last week, when the rumors surfaced. Nycomed has a strong presence in emerging markets, plus a newly approved respiratory drug, Daxas. Takeda needs more of an emerging-markets footprint, and it needs new revenues to replace upcoming patent losses. Plus, the Japanese company might be able to squeeze hundreds of millions of euros in cost savings from the combined company, Reuters reports.
- see the Takeda statement
- get the news from Reuters