Nikkei falters, Takeda dives over 9 pct on Shire takeover bid
TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks slipped on Wednesday morning as weakness on Wall Street soured risk sentiment, while the spotlight fell on Takeda Pharmaceutical which stumbled after it sweetened its takeover bid for Shire to 46 billion pounds ($64 billion).
The Nikkei dropped 0.9 percent to 22,088.68 in midmorning trade.
Takeda fell sharply, losing as much as 9.3 percent as investors fretted about its ability to finance the cash and stock deal.
Shire said in a statement it had agreed to extend a Wednesday regulatory deadline for the deal talks to conclude to May 8 in order to allow Takeda to carry out more due diligence and firm up its bid.
Construction equipment makers were also sold-off after an overnight fall in Caterpillar Inc, which was hit by concerns that rising materials costs could squeeze profit margins following U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on steel imports.
Komatsu Ltd dropped 4.7 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery shed 5.1 percent.
The broader Topix declined 0.5 percent to 1,760.67. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam)