Bristol-Myers Squibb shares fall on $74 billion Celgene acquisition

Georges Gobet | AFP | Getty Images

Tablets are pictured on the production line of Bristol Myers Squibb’s pharmaceutical plant of French group UPSA.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is making a $74 billion bet — and investors aren’t pleased.

The New York-based pharmaceutical giant on Thursday said it would acquire Celgene, a Summit, New Jersey-based cancer drug company, in a cash and stock deal valued at $74 billion. Under the agreement, Celgene shareholders will receive one Bristol-Myers Squibb share and $50 in cash for each Celgene share held, or $102.43 per share, a premium of 53.7 percent to Celgene’s Wednesday close.

After factoring in debt, the value of the deal balloons to about $95 billion — making it the largest health-care deal on record, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.

Celgene investors were jubilant over the deal, and Bristol investors were less than enthused. Shares of Bristol slid 12 percent while shares of Celgene surged 25 percent shortly after it was announced. There’s a chance Bristol investors, who think the company is overpaying for Celgene, may not approve the acquisition, Mizuho Securities USA said after conducting a quick survey of about 100 institutional clients.