Amgen wins race of top `22 deals with $26bn for Horizon thx

Horizon confirmed Amgen's interest in a press release. The American group is to offer around $116.5 for each share. The offer price is about 20 percent above the Irish drugmaker's closing price of $97.29 on Friday. Horizon shares rose by a good 14 percent to $111.30 in pre-market US trading on Monday. Amgen shares fell about 3 percent.

Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson have buried their acquisition plans for the drugmaker, J&J already in December, Sanofi just on Sunday as the bidder's competition raised concerns about the huge price tag. Dublin-based Nasdaq-listed Horizon derives nearly half of its $3.6bn annual revenue from Tepezza, a drug used to treat thyroid disease. Other top products are Krystexxa for chronic gout and Ravicti, a remedy for congenital urea disorders.

California-based Amgen reported revenue and profits last month that beat analysts' estimates. Eleven drugs achieved record sales in the third quarter, and the company also had operating costs under control. Horizon should accelerate the growth of Amgen, it said in the message. Greater efficiency is expected to save at least $500m annually.

Amgen is delivering the top deal of the year (until now) which confirms statements of financing experts, that there is a silver lining and not a real crisis in the healthcare and pharma M&A landscape. Deeper insights to the topic were published just recently in our Magazine, Issue 4-22, title "Crisis? What Crisis?" with sentiments of experts from venture capital and bridge financing.