Singapore – Takeda appears to be preparing its bid for rare diseases pharma Shire, reportedly sounding out major creditors for loans to finance the deal of up to $40 billion.

Japanese news outlets reported that Takeda is looking for loans of several trillion yen – tens of billions of dollars – from several banks.

At around $40B, the deal would be the largest ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company and would propel Takeda into the top ranks of global drugmakers.