Genmab A/S announced that its tender offer to acquire all outstanding common shares of Merus N.V. for $97 per share in cash has been completed. The offer, made by Genmab Holding II B.V., a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Genmab, met the minimum tender condition and immediately opened a ten‑business‑day subsequent offering period that began on the same day.
The transaction is valued at roughly $8 billion, with Genmab funding the purchase through a combination of cash on hand and approximately $5.5 billion of new debt. The deal adds Merus’s lead bispecific antibody, petosemtamab, to Genmab’s portfolio. Petosemtamab, which targets EGFR and LGR5, has earned two FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designations and has shown a 63% overall response rate in phase‑2 head‑and‑neck cancer trials presented at ASCO 2025. Genmab expects petosemtamab to generate about $1 billion in annual sales by 2029 and to be a key driver of the company’s transition to a wholly‑owned model.
Genmab’s stock closed at $32.30 on the day of the announcement and rose to $33.30 in overnight trading, reflecting investor confidence in the acquisition’s strategic fit and the strong market reception to petosemtamab’s clinical data. The market reaction was driven by the high tender acceptance rate of 94.2%, which de‑risks the finalization of the deal, and by the addition of a late‑stage oncology asset that is expected to accelerate Genmab’s growth trajectory.
CEO Jan van de Winkel said the Merus acquisition “marks a pivotal step in the delivery of Genmab’s long‑term strategy and strengthens our path to becoming a global biotechnology leader.” He added that petosemtamab “has the potential to be a transformational therapy for patients living with head and neck cancer” and that the deal “significantly accelerates our evolution into a fully integrated biopharmaceutical model.”
The acquisition also triggers leadership changes at Merus, with several board members and executives stepping down. Genmab plans to complete the acquisition of 100 % of Merus through back‑end transactions, with the transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. The company aims to deleverage to below 3× gross leverage within two years post‑closing, positioning it for sustainable growth and a stronger balance sheet.
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