Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday it has agreed to buy California-based Genentech for $46.8 billion in a takeover described as the largest in Swiss corporate history. The deal, approved and recommended by Genentech's board, offers $95 per share for the 44 percent of Genentech Inc. that Roche Holding AG doesn't already own. The agreement ends a long corporate struggle between the Basel, Switzerland-based drug maker and its cancer drug partner headquartered in South San Francisco. Roche had increased its bid to $93 per share last Friday. Its initial bid of $89 per share was rejected by Genentech's board in July. Roche then surprised the company and Wall Street with a lowered $86.50-per-share bid on Jan. 30, aimed directly at shareholders and seeking to bypass the opposition of Genentech's board. Roche said the combined company would be the seventh-largest US pharmaceutical company in terms of market share and would generate about $17 billion in annual revenues with a payroll of around 17,500 employees in the US pharmaceuticals business alone. The size of the Roche-Genentech deal eclipses the $39 billion takeover of US eye care company Alcon announced last April by Roche's Swiss rival Novartis AG. A joint statement by both companies said the special committee of Genentech's board of directors had approved the agreement and recommends that Genentech shareholders tender their shares in Roche's offer. Franz B. Humer, chairman of Roche, said he was pleased that the two sides could agree. “Working together, we aim to close the transaction quickly, thus removing uncertainty for employees and allowing us to focus even more intently on innovation and long
