By Kamal Choudhury and Kunal Das
Aug 3 (Reuters) - Radiopharmaceutical company Curium has agreed to buy peer Lantheus Holdings in a deal worth up to $8 billion, as the private equity-backed firm looks to expand its footprint in the fast-growing sector.
Radiopharmaceuticals, which use radioactive compounds to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer, have become one of the hottest areas in healthcare dealmaking.
Under the agreement announced on Monday, Lantheus shareholders will get $102.50 per share in
cash when the deal closes, plus rights to receive up to $12 more per share if certain sales targets are met by 2030.
The total consideration of up to $114.50 per share represents a premium of about 14.9% to Lantheus stock's last closing price of $99.64.
Lantheus shares rose more than 2% in morning trade.
"The $102.50 upfront is a fair price but not a generous one," said B. Riley Securities analyst Yuan Zhi, adding that the headline offer was below where many investors had positioned.
Lantheus has been a target of takeover interest for months, with Bloomberg News reporting in May that the company was weighing a sale after receiving an offer from Curium valuing it at about $7 billion.
Jones Trading analyst Justin Walsh said the deal could face "relatively high regulatory scrutiny" because both companies are major players in diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals.
Among other deals in radiopharmaceuticals in recent years, Bristol Myers Squibb bought RayzeBio for roughly $4.1 billion, AstraZeneca acquired Fusion Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to about $2.4 billion, and Eli Lilly snapped up Point Biopharma for roughly $1.4 billion.
Lantheus makes diagnostic imaging agents used to detect cancer as well as other diseases. Its lead product, Pylarify, a prostate cancer imaging agent, is used in PET scans, which deploy radioactive tracers to help doctors find signs of the disease.
Curium, backed by private equity firm CapVest Partners, develops and supplies radiopharmaceuticals used in diagnosis and treatment.
The deal will be financed with a mix of debt and equity and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
