Takeda Pharmaceutical has secured shareholder approval for the issuance of its shares necessary to implement the proposed $62bn acquisition of Shire.

The Japanese pharmaceutical company received at least 88% of votes exercised in favour of the proposal. Further, at least 87% of the votes exercised were in support of the company’s proposal to appoint three of Shire’s existing external directors to its board.

Takeda Pharmaceutical president and CEO Christophe Weber said: "With shareholder approval secured, we are looking forward to closing the acquisition in the coming weeks to create a more competitive, agile, highly profitable, and therefore more resilient company, poised to deliver highly innovative medicines and transformative care to patients around the world."

The company obtained a conditional approval from the European Commission (EC) last month for the acquisition. The clearance requires divestiture of Shire’s inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) product SHP647 and select associated rights to prevent future potential overlap with a similar Takeda compound.

"We are looking forward to closing the acquisition in the coming weeks to create a more competitive, agile, highly profitable, and therefore more resilient company."

This followed previous approvals by multiple regulatory authorities, including the US Federal Trade Commission, the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the State Administration for Market Regulation in China and the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense.

The transaction is still subject to approval by Shire shareholders and the sanctioning of the Shire scheme of arrangement by the Jersey Court. The court hearing is set to take place on 3 January next year.

After gaining the necessary approvals and the sanction, the deal is expected to close on 8 January. It is anticipated that the acquisition will make Takeda one of the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies.

However, according to Reuters, the acquisition will cause Takeda to  become one of the most indebted companies; Takeda is reportedly planning to divest up to $10bn worth of assets to pay the debt.

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