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Allergan defends hostile bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals as war of words continue

Allergan Inc., (NYSE:AGN) vigorously rejected a revised unsolicited offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (TSX:VRX; NYSE:VRX) to acquire all common outstanding Allergan stock in a deal valuing the company at up to $62.2 billion. Allergan’s board however has urged all Allergan stockholders not to tender any Allergan shares to Valeant. Commenting to the Financial Times in London, David Pyott, Chief Executive of Allergan, accused Valeant of having “anaemic growth” and a business model that “involves buying companies and starving them to death”. In return, Valeant’s Chief Executive has argued that building momentum and scale through acquisition of companies and products is preferable to investing in high-risk R&D. Recent press coverage of Bausch & Lomb (acquired by Valeant in May 2013) has highlighted significant job losses which, together with a recent FT article reporting Morgan Stanley bankers referring to Valeant as a “house of cards”, suggest there may be a long corporate takeover battle ahead.