Silence Therapeutics, one of the few UK-based holdings of International Biotechnology Trust (IBT), has been acquired by German drugs giant Merck for $1.3bn cash.
News of the agreed deal yesterday saw Silence’s US Nasdaq-listed shares soar 125%, or $10.90, to $19.58, just below the $20 shareholders will receive when the deal closes early next year.
The acquisition comes just two months after the London-based drug developer reported positive phase 2 trial results for its Divesiran treatment for polycythemia vera, a rare blood disease.
This is one of a pipeline of medicines the company hopes to produce using siRNA (short interfering RNA) technology to “switch off” specific disease genes.
Kai Beckmann, group chief executive of €18.7bn Merck, said the acquisition was aimed at boosting its presence in specialist areas of unmet medical need. Last year Merck bought SpringWorks Therapeutics, a US rare disease and cancer drug company, for $3.9bn.
Ian Ross, executive chair of Silence, was pleased the transaction “delivers significant, immediate and certain value to our shareholders.”
Although a small holding for IBT at just 0.7% of net assets, the takeout of Silence continues a biotech shopping spree by major pharmaceutical companies that the trust’s Schroders fund managers have been happy to exploit.
“We have seen nine portfolio companies acquired so far in 2026, matching the total for 2025 and showing the effectiveness of our stock selection process, which evaluates biotech companies through the same lens as potential acquirers,” said Ailsa Craig and Marek Poszepczynski.
Speaking on QuotedData’s ‘In the Hot Seat” show two weeks ago, Craig said mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were an important driver of investor returns. IBT had seen over 40 portfolio companies acquired since 2020, she said, with the acceleration in takeovers linked to a need for big drugs companies to find new products ahead of a “patent cliff” when a wave of copyright protections expire in the next few years. Craig said $400bn of drug company revenues were at risk by 2033 from generic competition that patent expiries would unleash.
Merck’s acquisition marks the end of the story for Silence which first listed in London in the 1990s as Stanford Rook Holdings before trading as SR Pharma. Late-stage failures of its tuberculosis immunotherapy treatment saw the company switch to RNA interference. It bought Atugen in Germany and Intradigm in the US and changed its name to Silence Therapeutics.
IBT shares firmed 0.5%, or 5p, to £10.15 on a 3.6% discount to net asset value. The £320m investment trust has rallied 28% in the past year to push its three-year shareholder returns to 89%. It is 81% invested in US-based companies.
Our view
Richard Williams, senior analyst at QuotedData, said: “Merck’s acquisition of Silence Therapeutics at a 130% premium is further evidence of the substantial value that large pharmaceutical companies are placing on innovative biotechnology assets. Silence is the ninth company held in IBT’s portfolio to become a takeover target in 2026, equalling the nine portfolio companies acquired during the whole of 2025. With the pharmaceutical industry facing a significant wave of patent expiries, acquisitions remain an important means of replenishing drug pipelines, providing a powerful structural driver for further M&A activity.”
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