Shareholders of Chilean firm CFR Pharmaceuticals greenlighted a sweetened takeover bid for drug firm Adcock Ingram on Friday. The approval comes as an attempt to woo the top shareholder of the South African company, according to Reuters.

Alejandro Weinstein, Chief Executive of CFR, said: "We've reached a deal with a large majority of Adcock's shareholders, and only two are against it. We're in conversations with (PIC) to find some sort of a solution to what they're putting forth. We're optimistic."

Under the new CFR offer, shareholders would have ZAR74.50 worth of cash and shares for every Adcock share. This is based on a value of ZAR2.334 for every new CFR share. The amount is slightly higher than last month's offer of ZAR73.51 per share, the report detailed.

Last month, the Chile-based firm upped its bid for Adcock by 1.6% to ZAR12.8 billion ($1.2 billion) in combined cash and stock. However, pension fund Public Investment Corp (PIC), which owns 19% of Adcock, turned down the offer. PIC said it wants an all-cash offer, the report explained.

The tie-up would help Adcock boost its presence in 23 countries and compete better with local rival Aspen Pharmacare, Reuters reported.