UK High Court Clears Lilly's $7.8B Centessa Pharma Takeover
Eli Lilly's acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals cleared a key legal hurdle after England's High Court approved the $7.8 billion deal.
A London court handed Eli Lilly a critical green light Sunday, as the High Court of Justice of England and Wales formally approved the pharmaceutical giant's $7.8 billion acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals, clearing one of the final regulatory barriers standing between the two companies and a completed merger.
Under the terms of the deal, Centessa shareholders will receive $38.00 in cash per share, plus one non-transferable contingent value right — or CVR — that could pay out up to an additional $9.00 per share if three undisclosed clinical or commercial milestones are achieved. Centessa, listed on Nasdaq under the ticker CNTA, is a clinical-stage company focused on treatments for excessive daytime sleepiness and other neurological disorders.
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Lilly first moved to acquire Centessa on March 31, 2026, when the two companies signed a definitive agreement. The court's ruling in England was necessary because Centessa is incorporated under English law, making High Court sanction a required procedural step before the transaction can close. With that approval now secured, the deal appears on track to finalize in the near term.
The acquisition signals Lilly's continued appetite for expanding its neurology pipeline as competition intensifies across the sleep disorder and CNS drug markets. The CVR structure — which ties part of the payout to future performance — reflects the early-stage risk still embedded in Centessa's core assets, while giving shareholders meaningful upside if the science delivers.
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