Takeda Shareholders Should Come Around to Shire

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. investors may belatedly be coming around to the view that the $62 billion purchase of Shire Plc is the best thing that could have happened to the Japanese drugmaker. To get the same U.S. exposure, and generate cost savings, Takeda might have looked to Celgene Corp. or Biogen Inc., according to Datamonitor Healthcare analyst Edward Thomason. Tack on the 65 percent premium Takeda offered Shire shareholders and you’re talking an awful lot of money.