Drugmaker Takeda shares tumble as company considers bid for Shire

TOKYO (Reuters) - Takeda Pharmaceutical <4502.T> shares sank 5 percent early on Thursday, a day after Japan's largest drugmaker said it was considering a bid for London-listed rare disease specialist Shire that could top $40 billion.

Shares in Takeda fell more than 5 percent in early morning trade, sharply underperforming the broader Tokyo market <.TOPX>, which was slightly higher.

Takeda said on Wednesday it was "at a preliminary and exploratory stage" of considering a bid that could spark another takeover battle in the deal-hungry pharma industry. Shire's shares ended 15.7 percent higher, valuing the group at around 32 billion pounds ($45 billion).

 

(Reporting by Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)