Baxalta Inc (NYSE: BXLT) shares are up more than 3 percent on Monday amid a recent report of Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ: SHPG) acquisition interest.
According to Saturday's report from Bloomberg, Shire is in advanced talks to acquire Baxalta for about $32 billion in cash and stock, excluding debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
The people said that the two drugmakers may announce a deal as soon as this week. The price of Baxalta being discussed is $46.50 to $48 a share, two of the people had stated. Final details of the transaction are still being negotiated and the timing and structure of any offer may change.
The stock traded recently at $40.30, up 3.2 percent.
Baxalta rebuffed an unsolicited $30 billion all-stock bid from Shire last July, which had placed the company's valuation at $45.23 a share. Since then, the company has been seeking a higher offer which includes cash, people familiar with the matter said last month.
The original bid was structured by Shire as an all-stock transaction to help preserve Baxalta's tax benefits from its July spinoff from Baxter International Inc (NYSE: BAX).
Shire's acquisition of Baxalta would yield a combined tax rate of 16 percent to 17 percent. Baxalta has projected a tax rate of 23 percent in 2016.
The combined company would generate $20 billion in sales by 2020, if a deal succeeds. There would be as many as 30 new drugs to launch over a five-year period for diseases ranging from dry eye disease to hemophilia, Shire stated.
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