Generic drug maker Actavis, Inc., which acquired Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is said to have spurned a $15 billion cash and stock acquisition offer from rival Mylan, Inc. (MYL), according to media reports on Tuesday. The company instead reportedly decided to pursue a deal to acquire Irish drug maker Warner Chilcott Plc. (WCRX).
Watson Pharmaceuticals completed its acquisition of the then Switzerland-based privately-held Actavis Group in a deal valued at about 4.25 billion euros or $5.6 billion in October. It then renamed itself Actavis, Inc. and began trading Under the 'ACT' ticker symbol on the NYSE in late-January 2013.
Mylan reportedly offered to acquire Actavis for $120 per share in a May 7 letter, but the offer was spurned a couple of days later. The deal would have created the worlds largest generic drug manufacturer. Mylan is currently no longer actively pursuing a deal for Actavis after its shares rose above the offer price over the past week, closing Tuesday's trading session at $121.68.
Meanwhile, Actavis is currently in talks to acquire smaller rival Warner Chilcott in deal of about $5.5 billion. The two companies had confirmed on Friday that they are in early stage discussions about a potential business combination. A deal could be struck over the next few weeks.
Parsippany, New Jersey-based Actavis itself was on the verge of another potential $13 billion merger-of-equals with Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX, VRX.TO) few weeks ago, but the talks were put on hold by Actavis in late-April to pursue the Warner Chilcott deal and as they failed to agree on terms of a deal.
Actavis became the second largest global generic drug maker and the largest in the U.S. following the Watson-Actavis deal. Prior to the deal, the world's largest generic drug maker was Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA), followed by Mylan, Inc (MYL) and Swiss drug giant Novartis AG's (NVS) unit Sandoz.
ACT closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $121.68, up $1.16 or 0.96% on a volume of 3.72 million shares, and MYL closed at $30.10, up $0.90 or 3.08% on a volume of 9.80 million shares. WCRX closed at $18.92, up $0.01 or 0.05% on a volume of 13.37 million shares.
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