Cubist planning $600M debt deal for Optimer acquisition

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:CBST) said late Tuesday it plans to raise $600 million through the sale of convertible senior unsecured notes to institutional investors to fund its acquisition of infectious disease partner Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR). Last month, Cubist announced plans to acquire Optimer as well as fellow infectious disease company Trius Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:TSRX) in cash and contingent value right (CVR) deals potentially worth up to $1.6 billion in total. Both deals are slated to close this year (see BioCentury, Aug. 8). ...