NPS Pharmaceuticals Shoots Up 20 Percent On Rumor

Shares of NPS Pharmaceuticals NPSP are up more than 20 percent in Mondays’ premarket trading following a 13 percent more higher last Friday.

Rumors arose Friday that the British drugmaker Shire SHPG is looking to acquire NPS for $40 per share. Financial Times broke the story and claims that the deal is still in early development. According to the Financial Times, it would make sense for Shire to buy the specialty drugmaker as Shire begins to expand its own offering of specialty drugs.

Related Link: Shire Considering Cash Bid For NPS Pharmaceuticals

Additional news was broken Sunday that Shire has secured five billion of funding for the acquisition by The Times. The article also claims that Shire made a previous bid for NPS, but the offer was rejected.

The announcement that Shire has secured credit looks to have added an incredible amount of credibility that the deal may go through; shares were last trading up 20.78 percent to $37.55. The current price suggests that some traders think the acquisition will be completed for more than $40. Although the current price is below $40, it is very high, given the amount of uncertainty that was reported.