LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - US drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb reached a deal to acquire biotech group Celgene on Thursday in one of the largest acquisitions ever in the history of the pharmaceuticals industry.
The $102.43 per share price tag will see Celgene valued at $74bn, for a 51% premium to the group's 30-day volume weighted average.

Under the terms of the agreement, Celgene shareholders will be entitled to receive $50 cash and one Bristol-Myers Squibb share, valued at $52.43 at the end of trading on Wednesday.

Celgene investors will also receive rights to shares, set to pay out in the future if both companies are able to pass certain regulatory milestones.

Both firms have strong-selling cancer drugs but have also faced much scepticism regarding their growth prospects, as reflected in a 15% decline in Bristol-Myers's shares in 2018, while Celgene lost more than 41%.

However, as a result of the acquisition Bristol will get control of one of the most successful cancer drugs on the market, the blood-cancer therapy Revlimid, which costs more than $100,000 a year, and will also gain access to a promising experimental CAR-T therapy being developed by Juno Therapeutics, which Celgene itself acquired after a $9bn takeover deal in 2018.

As of 1310 GMT, Bristol-Myers shares had lost 14.08% in pre-market trading to trade at $45.05 each, while Celgene shares were soaring 33.18% to $88.75.

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