Japan's Eisai to buy U.S. MGI Pharma for $3.9 bln

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TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Eisai Co Ltd (4523.T) said on Monday it would buy U.S. biopharmaceutical firm MGI Pharma Inc MOGN.O for $3.9 billion cash to help it expand in the United States and strengthen its pipeline in cancer treatments.

The planned purchase of the cancer specialist is the latest example of accelerating M&A in the biotechnology sector, which has seen a scramble by drugmakers to secure promising technologies and pipelines developed by small biotech firms.

Eisai will offer $41 per share, in a bid approved by MGI, which represents a 38.7 percent premium to MGI's closing share price on Nov. 28, the last business day prior to MGI's announcement it was exploring strategic alternatives.

It said it would finance the deal with its own cash and through bank loans.

MGI's products include Aloxi, a treatment to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea; Gliadel Wafer, a drug delivery device in the treatment of brain cancer; and Dacogen, a treatment for a group of blood disorders known as myelodysplastic syndromes that often precedes leukemia.

Big-ticket biotech deals this year include AstraZeneca (AZN.L) buying MedImmune for $15.6 billion and Celgene (CELG.O) acquiring Pharmion PHRM.O, a rival of MGI, for $2.9 billion. U.S. biotech group Biogen is also on the block.

(Reporting by Edwina Gibbs)

((edwina.gibbs@reuters.com; +813 3432-8730; Reuters Messaging; edwina.gibbs.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MGI PHARMA/EISAI

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