Shire to Buy Dyax for About $5.9B

Drugmaker Shire said it would buy Dyax for about $5.9 billion to gain access to the drug developer's late-stage experimental treatment for a severe breathing difficulty.

The offer price of $37.30 per share represents a 35.5 percent premium to Dyax's closing stock price on Friday. Dyax shareholders may also get a non-tradable contingent value right worth $4.00 a share if Dyax's DX-2930 drug is approved.

Ireland-headquartered Shire is already locked in a battle to acquire Baxalta, although a steep drop in its shares has led some investors to suspect that takeover bid - worth $30 billion when it was announced in August - may flounder.

But Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov said on Monday his group had capacity to do both deals.

"Even with this transaction, we will continue to have the financial firepower to pursue other value-added strategic acquisitions, including Baxalta,” he said.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, with Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Mark Potter)