McKesson to buy rival Celesio in $8.3 billion deal

24 October 2013

One of the USA’s biggest drug distributor and health care services and information technology company, McKesson Corp (NYSE: MCK), has signed an agreement to acquire a majority (50.01%) stake in rival German pharma services provider and retailer Celesio (CLS1.XE), in a transaction valued at 6.1 billion euros ($8.3 billion).

McKesson will acquire the entire holding of Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, currently representing a 50.01% stake in Celesio AG; and will launch voluntary tender offers for remaining publicly-traded shares and convertible bonds.

The offer price of 23 euros per share represents a 39% premium over the three-month volume weighted average price prior to the market speculation that began on October 8, 2013. The total transaction, which includes the assumption of Celesio’s outstanding debt, is expected to complete in fiscal 2015.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK