Irish biopharmaceutical giant Shire said Monday it has agreed to buy rare disease drug maker ViroPharma Inc. for $4.2 billion. Davis, Polk & Wardwell is advising Shire in connection with the acquisition, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is serving as legal counsel to ViroPharma. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, meanwhile, is representing ViroPharma financial adviser Goldman Sachs.
The transaction’s terms call for Shire to pay $50 a share for ViroPharma—a 27 percent premium over the target company’s Friday closing price. At the same time, Shire is terminating its share buyback program in the wake of Monday’s announcement of the transaction.
