As rumored, Novartis confirms buy of The Medicines Company

As is often the case, though not always, comments last week from ‘sources close to the negotiations’ have proved correct in the likely takeover by the Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) of USA-based The Medicines Company (Nasdaq: MCDO) and its key novel siRNA candidate inclisiran, a biennial cholesterol-lowering drug now in Phase III testing.

Late Sunday, when no stock market reaction was available, Novartis announced that it has entered into an agreement and plan of merger with The Medicines Company to acquire biopharmaceutical company for $85.00 per share in cash, a sharp 24% premium to its Friday closing price of a little under $70 valuing the company at around $9.7 billion on a fully diluted equity basis.

The offer price represents a premium of about 41% over The Medicines Company’s 30-day (to November 22, 2019) volume weighted average price of $60.33. Closing of the transaction, which is approved by the boards of directors on both companies, is expected in the first quarter of 2020.