LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Takeda Pharma agreed tobuy London-listed Shire for 45.3 billion pounds ($61.50billion) on Tuesday after the Japanese company raised the amountof cash in its offer to $30.33 to secure a recommendation.
Shire investors will receive $30.33 in cash and either 0.839new Takeda shares or 1.678 Takeda ADSs for each share, thecompanies said, valuing the offer at 48.17 pounds a share basedon the latest price and exchange rate.
Takeda expects substantial cost synergies of at least $1.4billion.
The deal - assuming it wins backing of shareholders - willbe the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese company andpropel Takeda, led by Frenchman Christophe Weber, into the topranks of global drugmakers.
"Together, we will be a leader in providing targetedtreatments in gastroenterology, neuroscience, oncology, rarediseases and plasma-derived therapies," he said.
The tie-up is also one of the largest ever in thepharmaceuticals sector, crowning a hectic few months ofdeal-making as large players look to improve their pipelines.
Shire said last month it would be willing to recommend anoffer from Takeda after it rejected four previous approaches.
Shire shareholders will own about half of the combined groupafter the deal.
($1 = 0.7366 pounds)(Reporting by Paul Sandle and Ben Hirschler; editing by KateHolton)