Write-up of Japan Achievement Awards 2008, day 2

DEAL OF THE YEAR
Takeda Pharmaceutical's $8.5 billion acquisition of the US's Millennium Pharmaceuticals
Acquirer adviser UBS Investment Bank
Target adviser Goldman Sachs

This was a deal which simply ticked all the right boxes in a very complete manner. It was the biggest deal of the year, it made excellent strategic sense and it was flawlessly executed. It also makes sense for the deal of the year to come from the pharmaceutical sector this year, as this sector saw the greatest level of cross-border activity. This deal enables an industry-leading Japanese company Takeda to widen its expertise to include anti-cancer drugs, an area of special expertise at Millennium. The acquisition is extremely complementary to...