Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc revealed on 3 February that it is paying a big premium to add the high-growth rare epilepsy drug Epidiolex (cannabidiol) to its commercial portfolio and additional cannabinoid therapeutics to its pipeline with the $7.2bn purchase of GW Pharmaceuticals plc. The cash and stock transaction values GW Pharma at $220 per American depository share (ADS), which is 50% more than the London-based firm’s 2 February closing ADS price of $146.25.
During an investor call, Jazz chairman and CEO Bruce Cozadd declined to disclose whether the purchase price for GW reflects a competitive bidding process to buy the company, but he said Jazz is “confident
Even with the high price tag, Jazz expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share (EPS) by the end of 2022 and “substantially accretive