Novartis moves to buy Speedel
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Novartishas taken a major step towards acquiring its fellow Swiss company Speedel. It has purchased an additional 51.7% of shares in the company, bringing the total amount of shares owned by Novartis to 61.4%. Novartis, which bought the shares for CHF130 ($126) each, will now begin a mandatory tender offer to acquire the remaining shares at the same price, and expects the full acquisition to cost CHF907 million.