Fujifilm to buy 66% of drugmaker for $1.4b

Fujifilm Holdings Corp agreed to buy Toyama Chemical Co for as much as 154.6 billion yen ($1.4 billion), adding a potential bird-flu treatment to its medical unit as digital camera sales slow.

Toyama shareholders will receive 880 yen a share, 39 percent higher than Tueday's closing price, the Tokyo-based companies said in a statement yesterday. Fujifilm's largest takeover since 2001 will also include the purchase of new shares.

The acquisition would give Fujifilm about 10 experimental medicines, including the first new class of anti-flu drug in a decade. The deal may provide Toyama researchers with funds to discover new drugs after the company posted its biggest annual loss in at least 12 years.