Otsuka Acquired Avanir Pharma for $5.3 B, Nikkei in Japan Gains 0.4%

Hiruki Nakamura
02 Dec, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo gained and market indexes closed at six-year new highs. Fast Retailing said November same-store sales increased 1.9% and total sales surged 4.1% from a year ago. Otsuka Holdings agreed to acquire Avanir Pharma for about $5.3 billion or $17 a share.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo gained and market indexes closed at six-year new highs. Fast Retailing said November same-store sales increased 1.9% and total sales surged 4.1% from a year ago. Otsuka Holdings agreed to acquire Avanir Pharma for about $5.3 billion or $17 a share.[/R]

Stocks in Japan reversed losses in the day and closed higher and market indexes reached a new six-year highs.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 73.12 or 0.4% to 17,663.22 and the broader Topix index rose 6.20 to 1,427.85.

The yen increased 0.5% to 118.89 against one dollar.

Stocks in Review

Fast Retailing Co Ltd fell 0.4% to 43,255 yen after the clothing retailer said same-store sales in November increased 1.9% while sales at own stores climbed 4.1% from a year ago month . Total sales including online sales jumped 4.7%.

The retailer forecasted sales by the fiscal 2020 may reach as high as 5 trillion yen.

Invesco Office J-REIT, Inc increased 2.8% to 108,000 yen after the real estate developer lifted revenue forecast for the year ending in October to 1.91 billion yen and net income to 435 million yen.

Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd jumped 2.1% to 3,864.50 yen after the company’s pharmaceutical unit agreed to acquire U.S.-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $3.5 billion or $17 per share in cash, a premium of 13.3% to closing price of yesterday.

Avanir reported the deal is expected to close in the first-quarter of 2015.

Shionogi & Co Ltd climbed 4.6% to 3,190 yen after the eye care and digestive medicine maker plans to issue convertible bonds for outside Japan worth up to 20 billion yen and buy back 9.84 million shares at 3,050 yen per share from today.