Britain’s bourse jumps following Jordan’s Hikma deal

AMMAN – Britain's top share index advanced on Wednesday, with Amman-based Hikma Pharmaceuticals leading the stock market higher on positive broker comments, Reuters reported.

Hikma’s shares were the biggest blue-chip gainers after a target price update from Jefferies, adding 3.7 per cent to an 11.6 per cent jump on Tuesday, when it announced a deal to buy Boehringer Ingelheim's US generic drugs business Roxane for about $2.65 billion in cash and stock, according to Reuters.
"The deal has created a firm foundation for future growth," Augustin Eden, analyst at Accendo Markets, told Reuters.

"Hikma shares could be bound for a return to February highs and above — still a healthy 8.5 per cent away despite gains of yesterday," Eden added.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 1.2 per cent higher at 6,631 points after rising 0.8 per cent in the previous session, when it snapped a five-day losing streak, according to Reuters.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is now the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) biggest pharmaceutical company and is considered the fastest growing multinational pharmaceutical group, according to the firm’s website.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Hikma will pay gross consideration of $1.18 billion in cash and will issue 40 million new Hikma shares to Boehringer, representing approximately 16.71 per cent of Hikma’s issued share capital immediately following closing and admission, the company said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Established in Amman in 1978 by the Darwazeh family, Hikma’s revenues reached $1.49 billion in 2014, while gross profits stood at $581 million.