Roche to Buy Genentech for $95/Share

Updated from 3:19 9.m. EDT

And at $95, Roche and Genentech(DNA Quote) said, "Done deal."

The Swiss drug giant and its smaller, yet arguably more valuable northern California biotech cousin finally agreed to terms early Thursday on a takeover deal that has hogged the attention of health care investors since last summer.

Roche agreed to purchase the remaining 44% of Genentech it doesn't already own for $95 a share - a final price that met with the approval of Genentech's board.

At $95, Roche is paying $46.8 billion for its new Genentech stake and just under 7% more than the company's original $89-a-share offer in July.

Roche still needs to convince a majority of Genentech's minority shareholders to tender their shares, but with Genentech's board recommending Roche's bid that should no longer be a significant hurdle.

"We believe this is a fair offer for Genentech shareholders, and the committee is pleased to come to a successful conclusion of this process," said Charles Sanders, chairman of the special committee of Genentech's board. "We look forward to working with Roche to complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible."

The denouement of Roche's seven-month quest to wrest full control of Genentech, the world's most successful biotech company by several measures, follows by a few days Merck's(MRK Quote) $41 billion merger with fellow drug maker Schering-Plough(SGP Quote). Like Pfizer's(PFE Quote) $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth(WYE Quote) six months ago, all these deals have in common a large pharmaceutical company seeking new growth opportunities from biotech.