Actavis buying Durata Therapeutics for $616.4M

CHICAGO — Specialty pharmaceutical company Actavis is buying Chicago-based Durata Therapeutics Inc. for about $616.4 million to help bolster its infectious disease portfolio.

One of Durata’s key products is Dalvance for injection, an IV antibiotic for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. Dalvance was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May.

Actavis PLC will pay $23 per share, a 66 percent premium to Durata’s Friday closing price of $13.88. The companies put the transaction’s value at approximately $675 million. Durata shareholders could receive up to $5 per share more, if certain regulatory and commercial targets are met for Dalvance.

Dublin-based Actavis said Monday that it expects to close the deal later this year or in early 2015. After the transaction closes, Durata, which is based in Chicago, will become an Actavis subsidiary.