Bristol-Myers to buy Celgene in a $74 billion deal

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced Thursday plans to buy cancer drugmaker Celgene in a cash and stock deal valued at $74 billion.

Under the agreement, Celgene shareholders will receive 1 Bristol-Myers Squibb share and $50 in cash for each share held, or $102.43 per share, a premium of 53.7 percent to Celgene's Wednesday close.

Shares of Celgene surged 32 percent in premarket trading, around $88 per share, while shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb were down more than 13 percent.

"Together with Celgene, we are creating an innovative biopharma leader, with leading franchises and a deep and broad pipeline that will drive sustainable growth and deliver new options for patients across a range of serious diseases," Bristol-Myers Squibb Chairman and CEO Giovanni Caforio said in a press release.

The boards of directors of both companies approved the deal. The combined company will have nine products with more than $1 billion in annual sales and significant potential for growth in oncology, immunology and inflammation and cardiovascular disease.

Bristol-Myers Squibb shareholders will own approximately 69 percent of the company, and Celgene shareholders are expected to own 31 percent.

Celgene was set to lose patent protection by 2022 for Revlimid, its top-selling multiple myeloma drug, concerning investors. The stock has fallen more than 37 percent over the past year.

Early last year, Celgene agreed to buy the rest of Juno Therapeuticsit didn't already own for about $9 billion in cash to gain access to Juno's pipeline of cancer drugs.

The company has been working on an experimental new gene therapy called CAR T-cell therapy — taking a patient's own immune cells, called T cells, genetically manipulating them to attack specific proteins on cancer, and infusing them back into the patient.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/03/bristol-myers-to-buy-celgene-in-a-74-billion-deal.html