Slaughter and May is advising Shire plc in relation to English law aspects of its acquisition of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a US rare disease-focused biopharmaceutical company.
The acquisition is structured as an all-cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of NPS Pharma at a price that values NPS Pharma at approximately US$5.2 billion. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.
We advised Shire on its new US$850 million fully underwritten short-term bank facility and in December 2014 on its US$2.1 billion revolving credit facility which, together with Shire’s cash and cash equivalents, will be used to fund the transaction.
Slaughter and May is working alongside Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP on the acquisition.