Endo Intl to buy Auxilium in cash-stock deal valued at $2.6 billion

Ireland's Endo International is buying Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a sweetened cash-and-stock deal valued at $2.6 billion a few weeks after Auxilium rejected a lower bid for the company.

Endo says it will pay $33.25 in cash and stock for each Auxilium share. That represents a 55 percent premium to Auxilium's closing price on Sept. 16, the day Endo went public with its acquisition attempt.

Dublin-based Endo initially offered $28.10 per share in a bid valued at $2.2 billion. But the board of Auxilium, which is based in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, rejected that and adopted a "poison pill" shareholder rights plan to discourage unsolicited takeovers.

The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the higher bid. The new value includes the assumption of debt.

Auxilium shares are climbing in premarket trading.