Roche buys rest of Genentech for £34bn

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Roche will pay $46.8 billion (£33.8 billion) for the 44% of Genentech it has not already bought up. Genentech's board has recommended its remaining independent shareholders accept the new $95-a-share offer.

The Swiss company said the deal would boost its earnings immediately, and the combined companies would have revenues of about $17 billion.

The deal comes days after the $41 billion takeover of Schering-Plough by rival US drugmaker Merck.

Roche has held a stake in Genentech for almost 20 years, and they have run joint drug development programmes.

However, there was a danger that when the latest co-operation agreement ran out in 2015, it might not have been renewed, or a rival drug company could have moved in to challenge it.

Roche has raised $39 billion through bond issues to fund the deal, which will give it 100% control over best-selling cancer drugs Avastin and Herceptin.