Amgen to Buy Celgene's Otezla for $13.4 Billion -- Update
August 26 2019 - 7:49AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) on Monday said it agreed to buy Celgene
Corp.'s (CELG) psoriasis treatment Otezla for $13.4 billion in cash
in a deal that will pave the way for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)
to complete its acquisition of Celgene.
Amgen said the deal is worth about $11.2 billion, net of
anticipated future cash tax benefits.
Bristol-Myers in January said it would acquire Celgene in a deal
valued at about $74 billion, but the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
raised anticompetitive concerns related to anti-inflammatory drugs.
The companies in June said they would shed Otezla to satisfy the
FTC's concerns.
Bristol-Myers on Monday said the sale of Otezla to Amgen is
contingent on a consent decree with the FTC and completion of the
Celgene acquisition, which the company now expects to occur by the
end of the year.
Amgen, a Thousand Oaks, Calif., biotechnology company, said
Otezla is a strong strategic fit with its psoriasis and
inflammation portfolio and said it expects at least
low-double-digit sales growth for the drug, on average, over the
next five years.
Amgen, which has been pressured recently by the introduction of
copycats to its white blood cell booster Neulasta and calcium
reducer Sensipar, noted that Otezla has exclusivity through at
least 2028 in the U.S.
Bristol-Myers said it will use proceeds from the Otezla sale to
pare its debt load, adding that it plans to focus on deleveraging
in the near term to maintain strong investment-grade credit ratings
and a ratio of debt to earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization of below 1.5-times by 2023.
The New York drug maker also raised an accelerated share
repurchase program, planned for after the Celgene deal closes, to
$7 billion from $5 billion.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 26, 2019 07:34 ET (11:34 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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