Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (Sobi) (STO:SOBI) has announced that it has entered into an agreement and plan of merger with CTI BioPharma Corp. under which Sobi has agreed to acquire CTI, a biopharmaceutical company focused on blood related cancers and rare diseases. Sobi will commence a cash tender offer to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of CTI for US$9.10 per share, corresponding to a total equity value of US$1.7 billion.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents Sobi in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by Orange County partner Scott Shean and New York partner Leah Sauter, with New York associates Jennifer Wong, Ozden Samur-LaBruna, and Emma Green. Advice was also provided on healthcare and FDA regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partners Elizabeth Richards, Christopher Schott, Paris/Brussels partner Eveline Van Keymeulen and Washington, D.C. counsel Nicole Liffrig Molife, with Washington, D.C. associates Kathryn Culver, Margaret Rote, Daniel Machado, Maria Malas, and Paris associate Jeanne Fabre; on intellectual property matters by San Diego partner Steven Chinowsky and counsel Darryl Steensma; on data privacy matters by Bay Area partner Michelle Ontiveros Gross, with associate Adriana Beach; on tax matters by Bay Area partners Grace Lee and Kirt Switzer, with associates Alexander Farris and Rasha Suleiman; on employment, benefits and compensation matters by Los Angeles/ Orange County partner Michelle Carpenter, with associates Sara Schlau and Viva Iemanjá Jerónimo; on antitrust matters by Bay Area partner Joshua Holian, Brussels partner Héctor Armengod and Washington, D.C. counsel Patrick English; on sanctions and anticorruption matters by Washington, D.C. partner Erin Brown Jones and counsel Andrew Galdes, with associate Allison Hugi; on finance matters by Los Angeles partner Nathan Whitaker and counsel Jonathan Shih, with associate Julia Steinberg; and on securities matters by New York associate David Califano.