May round-up of pharmaceutical & biotech M&A activity

This was a month that will likely be remembered as when Takeda (TYO: 4502) and Shire (LSE: SHP) shook hands on a $62 billion deal for the Japanese drugmaker to take over the rare diseases specialist.

If the deal goes through — and there are  still a few obstacles to be overcome — Takeda shareholders will own around 50% of the combined group.

There were also a couple of other acquisitions worth more than $1 billion, with two big pharma players adding to their assets in the immuno-oncology space and a merger creating the leading player in the Australian generics market.