Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) announces that it has extended the expiration of its previously announced tender offer by a wholly owned subsidiary of Shire for all of the outstanding common shares of ViroPharma (NASDAQ: VPHM) until midnight, New York City time, on Thursday, January 9, 2014 (one minute after 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on January 9, 2014). The tender offer had previously been scheduled to expire at 6:00 p.m., New York City time, on Thursday, December 26, 2013. All of the other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged.
As of 6:00 p.m. on December 26, 2013, approximately 50,217,259 common shares of ViroPharma (excluding 2,128,506 common shares of ViroPharma guaranteed to be delivered within the next three NASDAQ trading days) had been validly tendered and not withdrawn pursuant to the tender offer, representing approximately 76 percent of the outstanding common shares of ViroPharma.