Ebb & Flow

As anyone who has ever built a valuation model knows, it is always possible to come up with a higher or lower price for a company simply by tweaking a few numbers. But what matters in the end is finding someone to put real money on the table.

Thus, while some investors and management of Transkaryotic Therapies complained that the $1.6 billion in cash offered by Shirewas too low, no other company stepped into the breach, and the deal closed last week as 52.6% of TKTX shares outstanding (18.7 million) were voted in favor and 27.7% were voted against (9.9 million)...