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JAPANESE pharmaceutical company Astellas has made a $3.5b hostile bid for US firm OSI Pharmaceuticals, which specialises in cancer, diabetes and obesity.

Astellas has offered $52 in cash per OSI share, which is a 40% premium on OSI’s closing share price of $37.02 on 26 February 2010 and a 53% premium on its three-month average of $34.01.

OSI’s board rejected an oral offer from Astellas in February following talks between the two companies’ ceos, saying that the bid “significantly undervalues” the company. The OSI board has asked its shareholders not to take any action yet. It has offered Astellas access to non-public information which it says supports the valuation of OSI and is reviewing Astellas’ bid with financial and legal advisers.

Astellas says that acquiring OSI would support its strategy to become a world-leader in oncology, and that the company’s other specialities in diabetes and obesity would complement Astellas’s existing focus areas of urology and immunology.

Masafumi Nogimori, Astellas' president and ceo says: “This offer follows our attempts over the past 13 months to engage OSI in meaningful discussions. We firmly believe in the compelling strategic rationale behind the combination and the opportunity it provides to the OSI stockholders to realise full and fair value, in cash, immediately."

The deal is not subject to financing conditions as Astellas has sufficient cash and cash equivalents available. The company expects no regulatory problems.

In January 2009 Astellas attempted to buy Californian firm CV Therapeutics for $16/share, also rejected as inadequate by its board. CV Therapeutics was bought in April by Gilead Sciences, which paid $20/share.