Shire considers takeover of Swiss biotech group Actelion- Sunday Times

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical company Shire is considering a 12 billion pound ($18.32 billion) takeover of Actelion Ltd Europe's biggest biotech firm, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.

An informal approach by Shire (Xetra: S7E.DE - news) was rebuffed several weeks ago, the newspaper said, citing financial industry sources. Shire was willing to pay 160 Swiss francs a share for Actelion (Xetra: 936767 - news) , the sources said, a hefty premium to the stock's Friday closing price of 132 francs.

A spokeswoman for Shire said the company did not comment on speculation. Actelion could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.

Earlier this year, Actelion raised its full-year guidance after strong sales of its new heart and lung drug helped its first-quarter earnings exceed analysts' estimates. At the time the company's chief executive told Reuters it had not received any outside interest to buy the company.

In April, Shire reported a better-than-expected 20 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, helped by the launch of the first drug to treat binge eating disorder. ($1 = 0.6549 pounds) (Reporting by William James. Additional reporting by Joshua Franklin in Zurich. Editing by Jane Merriman)