Asahi Kasei to buy Swedish drugmaker Calliditas for $1.1 billion (updated)

Calliditas Therapeutics AB

28/05/2024 10:53

(Adds detail about Asahi Kasei, background about Japan M&A)
       TOKYO, May 28 (Reuters) - Asahi Kasei  3407.T  offered
to buy Swedish drugmaker Calliditas Therapeutics  CALTX.ST  for
around $1.1 billion on Tuesday as the Japanese maker company
looks to turn itself into a global player in pharmaceuticals.
    A maker of specialised chemicals, including those used in
batteries, the firm is best known in Japan for its building
materials, such as insulation used in housing. It has a pharma
division but is not heavyweight in the industry.
    A number of Japanese firms have been bulking up in
healthcare. Drinks giant Kirin Holdings  2503.T  last year
acquired Australian vitamin maker Blackmores Ltd in a $1.2
billion deal.
    Olympus Corp  7733.T , once best known for its cameras and
voice recorders, has sold both of those businesses and is now a
medical equipment maker known for endoscopes used in medical
exams.
    Asahi Kasei said it would offer about 11.8 billion Swedish
crowns ($1.1 billion) for Stockholm-based Calliditas, in a deal
approved by the boards of both companies. The offer of 208
crowns per share represents an 83% premium on Calliditas'
closing price of 113.6 crowns on Monday. 
    Calliditas focuses on orphan diseases and patients with
unmet medical needs. In recommending that shareholders accept
the tender offer, the Calliditas board said in a statement that
the company stands to "realise the benefits of being part of a
larger platform".
    Asahi Kasei said it wants to expand its healthcare
operations globally in the fields of immunology, transplantation
and related diseases.
    Japanese companies have been looking for growth outside
their home market and in areas such as healthcare to offset
declining revenue at home as the population ages and shrinks in
the world's fourth largest economy.
        ($1 = 10.5681 Swedish crowns)
    ($1 = 156.9000 yen)

 (Reporting by Rocky Swift and David Dolan; editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jason Neely)
 ((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))