Kirkland Represents Bristol-Myers Squibb on Agreement to Divest Celgene’s OTEZLA® to Amgen for $13.4 Billion

Kirkland & Ellis advised Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) on the agreement with Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) for Amgen to acquire the global rights to Celgene Corporation’s (NASDAQ: CELG) OTEZLA® (apremilast) for $13.4 billion in cash. Bristol-Myers Squibb previously announced the decision to divest OTEZLA in connection with the ongoing regulatory approval process for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s pending merger with Celgene. The closing of the acquisition covered by the agreement with Amgen is contingent on Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene entering into a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in connection with their pending merger, the closing of the pending merger, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s pending merger with Celgene is expected to close by the end of 2019.

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The Kirkland team was led by transactional partners Daniel Wolf, Jonathan Davis and Ryan Brissette along with David Fox; technology & IP transactions partner Lisa Samenfeld and associates Frank Wei and Ashley Eisenberg; tax partners Sara Zablotney and Dean Shulman and associate Vivek Ratnam; and antitrust partner Matt Reilly.