The Japanese pharmaceutical company known as Astellas Pharma has agreed to buy the U.S. biotech group Iveric Bio for just under $6 billion. The recent announcement of the deal marks Astellas' biggest acquisition for the company since it started looking to expand overseas back in 2007.

The cash and loan deal will have Astellas buying Iveric, formally known as Ophthotech, for $40 per share which will be a 22% premium to the company’s closing price on Friday.

Astellas is not the first Japanese company to look overseas for growth as many Japanese companies have been experiencing a shrinking market within their own country. Outward expansion has been viewed as the solution, however, with the dwindling value of the yen this has proven to be increasingly difficult.

The acquisition will allow Astellas to further expand its treatment for geographic atrophy, an eye disease that affects over 1.6 million individuals within the United States alone.

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‍Source: Wall Street Journal