
Avoro Capital, the deal killer behind the Seagen-Immunomedics blowup, has turned its eyes on Merck's Acceleron buyout
Merck’s proposed buyout of Acceleron Pharma represents a major bolt-on opportunity as the drugmaker looks to a future without megablockbuster Keytruda driving sales. But one of Acceleron’s activist investors isn’t pleased with the price tag of the deal, and history says that could be bad news for the buyout.
In a letter to Acceleron shareholders, Avoro Capital claimed Merck’s proposed $11.5 billion buyout at a 38% premium “drastically undervalues” the biotech, given premiums on similar deals in the recent past. Avoro owns 7% of shares in Acceleron, which has partnered with Bristol Myers Squibb on anemia drug Reblozyl and sotatercept, a Phase III candidate for rare cardio disease pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) that will serve as the centerpiece of the Merck acquisition.
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