AstraZeneca Blocks $8.1 Billion Advent-GIC Bid for Rare Disease Leader Sobi

On December 3, the $8.1 billion acquisition proposal for Swedish rare disease pharmaceutical company Sobi, made by private equity giant Advent International and GIC-affiliated Aurora, was blocked by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC withholding its 8% stake. The failure of the deal directly caused Sobi’s stock price to plummet by nearly 25%.

In recent years, the rare disease pharmaceuticals industry has continuously gained favor from capital giants. Sobi (Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB), as a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing therapies for rare diseases, has been the subject of acquisition rumors with various multinational pharmaceutical enterprises since 2015. At that time, Sobi rejected acquisition proposals from Pfizer and Biogen due to "insufficient offers."

On January 3, 2019, Sobi announced the completion of the acquisition of U.S. rights to Synagis (palivizumab), a lower respiratory tract infection drug from AstraZeneca, for a total transaction value of $2.3 billion. This deal also facilitated AstraZeneca's further asset divestment to focus on core therapeutic areas.

In July this year, AstraZeneca announced a $39 billion acquisition of rare disease giant Alexion Pharmaceuticals, successfully entering the rare disease pharmaceuticals field. At the time, Sobi was AstraZeneca's direct competitor in the complement inhibitor franchise, but due to having just completed this nearly two-year rare large-scale transaction in the biopharmaceutical market, AstraZeneca was temporarily unable to acquire any rare disease assets held by Sobi.

On September 3, the board of Sobi unanimously recommended shareholders to accept the cash acquisition offer from Advent International and Aurora, with the price per share at SEK 235 (USD 27.3), representing a premium of 34.5% compared to the company’s closing price on August 25. This has fully demonstrated its significant appeal as a rare disease pharmaceutical enterprise. Due to this acquisition offer, Sobi also became the best-performing stock in the STOXX 600 index at that time.

However, the deal fell through three months after the acquisition proposal was announced due to AstraZeneca's 8% stake in Sobi. According to a report by Bloomberg, the reason was that AstraZeneca was concerned that Sobi, owned by private equity, would eventually be sold, leading to the loss of Sobi's rights to Synagis. Additionally, some media outlets speculated that AstraZeneca hoped to purchase part of Sobi’s rare drug assets and complete an acquisition deal within the next few years.