By Colin Kellaher

Shares of Imago BioSciences Inc. more than doubled in early trading Monday after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company agreed to be acquired by drugmaker Merck & Co. at a rich premium.

Merck said it would pay $36 a share in cash for Imago, more than double Friday's closing price of $17.40 for the South San Francisco, Calif., company, in a deal valued at about $1.35 billion.

The purchase price also is more than 19% above Imago's previous all-time high of $30.21 reached in October 2021, roughly four months after the company's initial public offering.

Merck, based in Kenilworth, N.J., said it plans to launch a tender offer for Imago and expects to complete the acquisition in the first quarter of 2023.

Imago shares were recently changing hands at $35.55, up about 104%.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2022 10:17 ET (15:17 GMT)

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