The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price is in the green on Thursday and currently changing hands at $56.80, up 0.26%.
This follows news that the conglomerate has sweetened its offer to acquire Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API) today.
There's a bit of history here, so let's investigate further.
What went down today?
Wesfarmers revised its indicative proposal to acquire Australian Pharmaceuticals after the healthcare company rejected the original $1.38 per share proposal back in July.
Wesfarmers wants to buy 100% of the company's outstanding shares and is offering $1.55 per share under a revised scheme arrangement.
This represents a 22% premium to the pharmaceutical company's closing price on Wednesday. It's also a 35% premium to its share price on 9 July when the original offer was made.
The Australian Pharmaceuticals board intends to unanimously recommend the revised proposal, which is still subject to due diligence by Wesfarmers.
The board will back the deal if no superior offers are made in the foreseeable future. The board will also seek the opinion of an independent expert, according to the release.
If everything comes back clear, it will be all systems go to get the deal done, it appears.
What's next for the Wesfarmers share price?
The deal is still subject to a number of conditions, including satisfactory completion of due diligence.
They also need clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and full backing from the API board.
Wesfarmers shareholders don't have to do anything right now. However, the next moves will no doubt have some impact on the Wesfarmers share price.
The company has until 16 October to complete its due diligence. After that, both parties will enter into a binding offer if everything is satisfactory.
That's a key date for shareholders of both companies to keep pencilled in.
Wesfarmers share price snapshot
The Wesfarmers share price has had a choppy year to date but has gained 9.9% since January 1.
Wesfarmers shares are up by about 25% over the past 12 months. This is in line with the return of the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) over the same time.
