=Relypsa (RLYP) to be acquired by Galenica for $1.53 billion

• Swiss company offers $32 per share, 59% above Relypsa’s close
• Galenica says Veltassa drug has blockbuster potential

Galenica AG, the owner of Switzerland’s biggest pharmacy network, agreed to buy Relypsa Inc. for about $1.53 billion to gain a new medicine and a commercial network in the U.S.

The Swiss company will pay $32 per share in cash for Redwood City, California-based Relypsa, it said in a statement Thursday. That’s 59 percent above Relypsa’s closing price Wednesday of $20.10. Galenica fell 9.5 percent to 1,236 Swiss francs in Zurich. Relypsa jumped 58 percent to $31.84 at 10:47 a.m. in New York.

Galenica’s strategy is to grow via licensing deals and acquisitions, the company said in the statement, and Vifor intends to specialize in cardio-renal and gastroenterology drugs. The unit already sells Roche Holding AG’s iron-deficiency drug Mircera in the U.S. It also agreed to sell a renal medicine called Retacrit for Pfizer Inc. in May.

“Relypsa is an excellent strategic fit for Vifor Pharma and an important step forward building a leading specialty pharmaceutical company,” Gianni Zampieri, Vifor’s interim chief executive officer, said on a conference call. He said the portfolio has the “potential of blockbuster opportunities.”

With Veltassa, Galenica will likely face competition from AstraZeneca Plc’s ZS-9, which is awaiting FDA approval. Hyperkalemia affects about 3 million people in the U.S. with late-stage chronic kidney disease or heart failure, according to the statement, which said Veltassa could be a blockbuster.