act legal Switzerland advises on a USD 1.1 billion transaction

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., based in Japan, and Araris Biotech AG, a Swiss biotechnology company developing next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), have entered into a share purchase agreement under which Taiho Pharmaceutical will fully acquire Araris Biotech. The acquisitionis expected to close in the first half of 2025 and follows a research collaboration between the two companies that began in November 2023.

Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, Taiho Pharmaceutical will pay USD 400 million at closing, with the potential for additional milestone payments of up to USD 740 million.

act legal Switzerland (formerly BGPartner Ltd) has been advising Araris Biotech as Swiss legal counsel since its incorporation in 2019 and advised the company on all Swiss law aspects of this transaction. The team consisted of Oliver Gnehm, Thomas Gysin and Tessa Douma. Cooley LLP advised on all US law aspects.