UCB announces 4.4 billion euro bid for Schwarz Pharma

UCB, the Belgian pharmaceutical company, has launched a bid to acquire Schwarz Pharma for 4.4 billion euros (2.95 billion pounds).

The company describes its takeover attempt as “friendly” and has said that Schwarz’s board intends to unanimously recommend the offer to its shareholders.

UCB claims that Schwarz, a German pharmaceutical company, would bring three “exciting” and approved new compounds in late-stage development, while offering a complementary fit in both therapeutic and geographic terms.

The new company would demonstrate “global leadership” in its neurology portfolio, stronger commercial presence in Europe and the US, as well as revenues in excess of 3.3 billion euros, UCB has stated.

Roch Doliveux, chief executive officer of UCB, commented: “The proposed combination with Schwarz Pharma is a leap forward in building UCB into a global biopharmaceutical leader focused on selected disease areas, especially neurology, inflammation and oncology.”

Schwarz Pharma’s chief executive officer, Patrick Schwarz-Schuette, said he was “very excited” by the prospects offered by the proposed merger because it would “significantly” enhance the commercial possibilities for the drugs in its late-stage development pipeline.

He concluded by saying that he is “convinced” that the combination would be successful for all stakeholders.

Yesterday, AFX reported that Pfizer was also in talks to acquire Schwarz, citing “financial sources”.

The acquisition bid is the latest in a spate of mid-pharma buyouts involving German pharmaceutical companies, with Bayer and Schering AG, as well as Merck KGaA and Serono all having merged within the last three months.