Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals will buy U.S.-based Celator Pharmaceuticals in a cash deal valued at about $1.5 billion, to gain access to an investigational product in development for treating acute myeloid leukemia.
Celator shares soared 71 percent and were up 1609 percent year to date. Jazz's stock was slightly lower.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals will pay $30.25 per share in cash for Celator, a 72.6 percent premium to Celator's closing price on Friday.
In March, Ewing, New Jersey-based Celator said its Vyxeos treatment helped older high-risk patients with a deadly form of leukemia live longer than those who received the standard of care regimen in a late stage clinical trial.
In May, the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted breakthrough therapy designation to Vyxeos.
The deal is expected to add to Jazz Pharma's non-GAAP adjusted earnings beginning in 2018, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday.
"As Celator is currently preparing a regulatory submission in the U.S. for Vyxeos, this acquisition would add a new orphan product with the potential for short- and long-term revenue generation and expansion of our international commercial platform," Jazz Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Bruce Cozadd said in a statement.
Jazz Pharma will fund the deal, structured as a tender offer, with a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under its credit facility.
RBC Capital Markets was the financial advisor and Cooley was the legal counsel for Jazz Pharmaceuticals.