Juno Therapeutics takeover bid confirmed

Following last week’s speculation that a takeover bid was on the way for US CAR-T cell therapy specialist Juno Therapeutics (Nasdaq: JUNO), which sent the firm’s shares rocketing 50%, the bid has now been formally announced.

Shares of Juno rose 27% to $86.20 in pre-market trading.

As rumored, US biotech major Celegene (Nasdaq: CELG), in a bid to expand its cancer portfolio, has agreed to acquire Juno. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Celgene will pay $87 per share in cash, or a total of approximately $9 billion, net of cash and marketable securities acquired and Juno shares already owned by Celgene (around 9.7% of outstanding shares). The transaction, which is expected to close in the first-quarter of this year, was approved by the boards of directors of both companies.