LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Shire, theLondon-listed drugmaker targeted by Takeda Pharmaceutical,reported a 6 percent rise in first-quarter earnings on Thursday,helped by higher product sales and a lower tax rate partiallyoffset by lower gross margins.
The company reported non-GAAP diluted earnings per AmericanDepository Share of $3.86 on revenue of $3.77 billion, slightlyahead of analysts' forecasts of $3.72 billion.
The rare-disease specialist said on Wednesday it was willingto recommend a sweetened $64 billion offer from Japan's Takeda, in what would be the biggest acquisition of a drugcompany since 2000.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)