By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (T:4502) faces demands from disgruntled shareholders to put to a vote its $62-billion (46.8 billion pounds) acquisition of London-listed Shire (L:SHP) and do more to assuage concerns over the record-breaking deal.
The deal "carries overly high risks to the company" given its size, 12 shareholders said in a proposal to be voted on at next month's annual shareholders' meeting, adding that new shares to be issued to fund the deal threaten "a danger of causing a great disadvantage to existing shareholders".
The Shire deal and any future deals worth more than 1 trillion yen (£7 billion) should be put to a shareholder vote, says the proposal - which will need two thirds of votes at the meeting to pass, according to a Takeda spokesman.
Takeda's board of directors opposes the proposal, according to the company's notice of convocation that contained the proposal, saying the need for prior approval for such deals would damage competitiveness and the company's ability to make decisions.
However, the drugmaker already plans to put the Shire deal to a vote at an extraordinary general meeting, with two-thirds support needed. It will also need three-quarters backing from Shire investors.
Many investors have been lukewarm on the deal, fearing it will overstretch Takeda's finances, with shares at the drugmaker trading down more than 25 percent since it first said it was considering bidding for Shire.
The proposal was received on April 27, a Takeda spokesman said, before the terms of the Shire deal were announced on May 8.