Galenica to buy Relypsa for $1.53bn to beef up in US

Bloomberg

Galenica AG, the owner of Switzerland’s biggest pharmacy network, agreed to buy Relypsa Inc. for about $1.53 billion to gain a new medicine and a commercial network in the U.S.
The Swiss company will pay $32 per share in cash for Redwood City, California-based Relypsa, it said in a statement on Thursday. That’s 59 percent above yesterday’s closing price of $20.10 for Relypsa.
The transaction gives Galenica’s business unit Vifor Pharma a U.S. commercial network and global rights to Relypsa’s drug Veltassa, which was the first new medicine in 50 years to be approved in the U.S. for hyperkalemia, a condition in which there is too much potassium in the blood. After the combination, which both boards approved, Galenica still plans to split into two separate listed companies.
Galenica shares fell 4.8 percent to 1,300 Swiss francs at 9:37 a.m. in Zurich, valuing the company at 8.45 billion francs ($8.55 billion).
Vifor already sells Roche Holding AG’s iron-deficiency drug Mircera in the U.S. It also agreed to sell a renal medicine called Retacrit for Pfizer Inc. in May.
With Veltassa, Galenica will likely face competition from AstraZeneca Plc’s ZS-9, which is awaiting FDA approval. Hyperkalemia affects about 3 million people in the U.S. with late-stage chronic kidney disease or heart failure, according to the statement, which said Veltassa could be a blockbuster.
Galenica’s strategy is to grow via licensing deals and acquisitions, the company said in the statement, and Vifor intends to specialize in cardio-renal and gastroenterology drugs.
Credit Suisse Group AG acted as the sole financial adviser to Galenica and will supply bridge loan financing for the transaction, the company said. Centerview Partners and BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisers to Relypsa.