Eli Lilly to buy psychedelic drugmaker AtaiBeckley for up to $3.8 billion in bet on depression therapy
What happened: AtaiBeckley (ATAI) stock jumped 30% pre-market Thursday after Eli Lilly (LLY) said it would acquire the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
What's behind the move: Eli Lilly is making a bet on neuroscience and psychiatric pharmaceuticals after announcing it will buy AtaiBeckley in a deal valued at $2.8 billion upfront, with the potential to reach $3.8 billion if certain milestones are met.
What else you need to know: Under the agreement, Lilly will pay $6.75 per share in cash, representing an upfront equity value of roughly $2.8 billion.
The offer represents a roughly 26% premium to AtaiBeckley's Wednesday closing price of $5.36.
Shareholders could receive up to an additional $2.50 per share tied to future clinical and regulatory milestones for its therapies BPL-003 and VLS-01.
Ines Ferre is a Senior Business Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering the US stock market, publicly traded companies, and commodities.
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