Allergan will not bid for Irish rare diseases specialist Shire

Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical increased its offer for Irish pharma group Shire to £47 (€53.65) a share on Friday after its three previous bids – the last at £46.50 – were rejected by the rare disease drugs specialist.

Shares in Shire slipped earlier in the day after Botox maker Allergan confirmed it would not make a bid for the Irish pharmaceutical giant. On Thursday, Allergan disclosed it was weighing up a tilt, hours after Japan's Takeda revealed that it had had its £44 billion offer for Shire rejected.

“Allergan now confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for Shire,” the group said in a stock market statement.

Shire shares were down nearly 2.5 per cent in late afternoon trading.

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Takeda’s and Allergan’s announcements had threatened to spark a takeover battle for Shire, which said on Thursday that it had rebuffed three offers from Takeda because they “significantly undervalued the company, its growth prospects and pipeline”.

Talks between the pair are ongoing. – Reuters / PA