Merck KGaA agrees $6.5 billion takeover of Versum

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Merck KGaA said it signed a takeover agreement with target Versum Materials for a price of $53 per share after Versum walked away from a prior merger agreement with rival Entegris.

Merck is targeting 75 million euros (64.9 million pounds) in run-rate synergies by the third full year after closing of the deal, which it expects in the second half of 2019, it said in a statement on Friday.

Including about $700 million in assumed Versum debt and based on about 109 million shares, Merck's bid translates into a overall price tag of close to $6.5 billion (4.97 billion pounds).

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Thomas Seythal)