Aimmune Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that developed a treatment for peanut allergies, soared 172% on Monday after Nestle Health Science, a division of Nestle, agreed to acquire the company for $2.6 billion.
Palforzia is intended for children aged 4 to 17 years old, and is used to help reduce the frequency and severity of an allergic reaction to peanuts, including anaphylaxis, according to Aimmune. The drug is in pill form and is taken orally.
Nestle already owned a 25.6% stake in the healthcare company. Shortly after the approval of the peanut allergy treatment in January, Nestle announced a $200 million follow-on investment in the company. Nestle had originally invested in Aimmune in 2016.
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Nestle expects the acquisition to be accretive to its organic growth in 2021, and accretive to cash earnings by 2022 or 2023, the company said.
Nestle will launch a tender offer to acquire all shares it doesn't already own for $34.50, representing a 174% premium to Aimmune's Friday closing price of $12.60, and a total enterprise value of $2.6 billion.
Nestle will finance the acquisition with cash on hand and expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2020.
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