Irish focus as Shire may be involved in bid shootout

Shire shares have surged following a report that Allergan is considering a bid for the drugmaker to compete with Japan’s Takeda’s $63bn (€50.9bn) offer.

The pharmaceutical industry has seen a surge in deal-making this year as large players look for promising assets to improve their pipelines, but a Takeda-Shire transaction would be by far the biggest yet.