Deal roundup, 3.5.15

  • AbbVie Inc will buy Pharmacyclics Inc for about $21 billion, giving it access to what is expected to be one of the world’s top-selling cancer drugs and expanding its reach in the profitable oncology field.
  • Simon Property Group Inc, owner of malls and outlet centers, made its latest approach to buy rival Macerich Co in the past few weeks, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
  • Mallinckrodt Plc said it would buy privately held Ikaria Inc, a maker of a respiratory drug and its delivery system, for $2.3 billion to expand its reach in hospitals.
  • EWE AG, Germany’s fifth-largest utility by sales, is in talks to sell its stake in gas firm VNG AG, a deal that could fetch 1.3 billion euros ($1.45 billion), two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.
  • Citigroup Inc has sold its nearly 10 percent stake in Turkey’s Akbank TAS for $1.2 billion, the U.S. lender said, its latest disposal of overseas assets to cut costs and boost profits.
  • Arrowhead Research Corp said it bought Novartis AG’s RNAi assets to fortify its position in the field of gene therapy that aims to wipe out disease-causing proteins.
  • Buyout firm CVC has sold a 3.9 percent stake in Evonik Industries AG at 29.15 euros ($32.22) a share as it continues its gradual exit from the German chemicals group.
  • Recruit Holdings Co Ltd said it had agreed to buy German online restaurant reservation service provider Quandoo GmbH for 198.6 million euros ($219.2 million), the latest overseas acquisition for the Japanese staffing firm.
  • Blackstone Group LP is exploring a sale of AlliedBarton Security Services in a deal that could value the largest U.S. security officer services company at around $1.5 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
  • Advanced Medical Pricing Solutions, a specialist in containing healthcare costs, has hired financial advisor Ansley Capital Group to find a private equity backer to potentially purchase a minority stake in the company, a source told Buyouts.

($1 = 0.9060 euros)

(Compiled by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru for Reuters; Additional compiliation by Lawrence Aragon for Buyouts)