Asahi Kasei Corp., which recently moved its global headquarters for its Healthcare Business to the U.S., has offered to acquire the shares of the pharmaceutical company Calliditas Therapeutics AB to make Calliditas a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei.
 
The Tender Offer also includes a concurrent offer by Asahi Kasei to acquire all American Depositary Shares (ADS), each representing two shares in Calliditas, which will be conducted pursuant to the securities rules of the United States.
 
Calliditas is a differentiated specialty pharmaceutical company focused on treating unmet medical needs, with a strong track record of drug development and commercialization led by a highly regarded management organization. Calliditas’ product, TARPEYO, is highly complementary to Asahi Kasei’s existing geographic and therapeutic areas and treats a rare disease called IgA nephropathy, currently the only fully approved product shown to reduce the loss of kidney function in adults with primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy who are at risk for disease progression.
 
Asahi Kasei aims to acquire Calliditas for the total equity value of approximately $1.1 billion.
 
Asahi Kasei strongly believes this transaction will accelerate its transformation into a global specialty pharmaceutical business by unlocking the potential of existing business operations and human resources of Calliditas.
 
Asahi Kasei aims to achieve the following outcomes through the acquisition of Calliditas:
 

• Solidify its presence in the U.S. market by expanding its in-house sales structure for renal and autoimmune disease fields
• Establish a presence in Europe, initially focused on R&D activities
• Expand breadth of in-licensing and new drug development pipeline opportunities that leverage its expanded platform as a “Global Specialty Pharma”