Dec 2, 2021
CSL Said in Talks to Buy $8.6 Billion Swiss Drug Maker Vifor
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- Australian biotech company CSL Ltd. is in talks with Vifor Pharma AG over an acquisition of the Swiss-based drug maker, according to people familiar with the matter.
CSL is working on financing a possible takeover of Vifor, which has a market value of 8 billion Swiss francs ($8.6 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Vifor shares rose as much as 18.35% in Zurich on Thursday, an intraday record, following earlier reports about a deal in the Australian press.
Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they’ll result in a transaction, according to the people. Representatives for CSL and Vifor declined to comment.
A deal would add to $528 billion of transactions in the global health-care sector this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s up 75% on the same period in 2020 and already an annual record, the data show.
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