British pharma giant Shire (SHP) is set to sell its oncology business to French peer Servier for $2.4bn (£1.68bn). For those expecting management to put the struggling neurology business up for sale, this development comes as something of a surprise. It has also potentially thrown a spanner in the works of Takeda’s budding takeover: oncology is one of the key divisions the Japanese group is interested in.
But some analysts think bulking up the cash position and simplifying the portfolio makes Shire a more attractive takeover target. With its highly stretched net debt, integrating Shire would have been a whopping task for any potential buyer. The group still has an impressive pipeline of new drugs in the rare disease space – its historic area of specialism – which should still be attractive to a prospective buyer.
