Merck KGaA to Acquire Silence Therapeutics for $1.3 Billion at 130% Premium to Recent Close

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany agreed on October 19 to acquire London-based Silence Therapeutics plc in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.3 billion in equity and $1.1 billion in enterprise value. The offer price of $20.00 per American Depositary Share, where each ADS represents three ordinary shares, represents a 130% premium to Silence's closing ADS price on October 16 and an 82% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price of $10.99.

Silence is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops medicines using its proprietary siRNA platform, which employs short interfering RNA to silence disease-causing genes. Merck KGaA said the acquisition strengthens its rare disease pipeline, with Divesiran, a key Silence pipeline asset that recently generated encouraging Phase 2 results in polycythemia vera, cited as a central strategic rationale.

Shares of Silence surged roughly 125% on the day, closing near $19.57 after trading as high as the deal price, confirming strong market confidence in the transaction closing. Investor rights law firm Halper Sadeh LLC announced it is investigating whether Silence's board secured a fair price for shareholders, a routine step in acquisitions of this type.