The proposed $8 billion dollar merger between Japanese firms Daiichi and Sankyo has been given the go-ahead by the latter firm’s shareholders, clearing the path to creating the country’s second biggest drugmaker [[25/02/05a]], [[02/03/05f]].
Documents posted on Sankyo’s website did not give an exact breakdown of the vote, merely saying that the proposal had been approved, but the news is clearly a boost for the company after a shareholder activist fund last month urged a veto, questioning how the acquisition would increase shareholder value [[23/05/05b]]. Investors had questioned whether Sankyo’s shareholders would indeed give their blessing to the deal.
The firms plan to integrate their businesses in October 2005 when an initial stock transfer will see Daiichi and Sankyo become wholly-owned subsidiaries of a new joint holding company [[02/03/05f]]. A second phase of the deal will integrate the ethical pharmaceuticals businesses by April 2007.
