Lonza Group AG announced its biggest ever acquisition on Thursday with a deal to buy Capsugel, a U.S. maker of capsule products and other drug delivery systems, for $5.5 billion in cash to broaden its product range as a pharmaceuticals industry supplier.
The Swiss company’s shares fell by over 7 percent on the news to around 157 Swiss francs ($154) on concerns that the acquisition, costing over 60 percent of Lonza’s market value, and a planned capital increase of up to 3.3 billion Swiss francs ($3.22 billion), would be hard to digest.