Novo Nordisk shares slip after pharma giant announces $4.7 billion U.S. acquisition

LONDON — Shares of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk fell 1.1% on Thursday after the company announced plans to acquire U.S. biotech firm Akero Therapeutics.

The deal will see Novo pay $54 per share, valuing Akero at $4.7 billion, with the acquisition also including a contingent value right of $6 per share, potentially adding another $500 million to the offer.

Shares of New York-listed Akero were up around 16.5% on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.2% lower by 2:45 p.m. in London (9:45 a.m. ET).

HSBC‘s London-listed shares were down 4.5% during afternoon trading on Thursday after a privatization bid for its Hong Kong-based subsidiary Hang Seng Bank. Europe’s largest lender, HSBC, put forward a privatization proposal to shareholders for Hang Seng on Thursday. It is a controlling shareholder of the bank, with a 63% stake.

“If approved, Hang Seng will become a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Asia Pacific and will be delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange,” HSBC said. Hang Seng’s shares soared upon the news.

The privatization offer weighed on European banks, pulling the sector 1.2% lower in afternoon trade.

Regional markets closed higher on Wednesday, as investors reacted to proposed tariffs on steel imported into the European Union. The bloc had announced plans to reduce tariff-free quotas on imported steel, and to hike tariffs from 25% to 50% on any excess imports.

Market attention turned to France again Thursday, after President Emmanuel Macron said last night that he will name a new prime minister within 48 hours, following the resignation of Sebastien Lecornu on Monday. Macron is being urged to pick a PM who is not another centrist ally.

French investors appear to be holding tight, with the CAC 40 up 0.1%.

Elsewhere, the German DAX edged higher, up 0.2%, despite German exports unexpectedly falling in August, dipping 0.5% compared with the previous month. The UK’s FTSE dipped around 0.2%.

In Asia Pacific markets overnight, shares of SoftBank jumped as much as 13% a day after the Japanese giant announced a deal to buy the robotics division of Swiss engineering firm ABB for $5.4 billion, further advancing SoftBank’s AI footprint.

In the U.S., S&P 500 futures were up slightly on Wednesday night after the benchmark index rose to all-time highs yesterday.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Nur Hikmah Md Ali contributed to this market report.