Actavis Will Acquire Botox Firm Allergan

Allergan Inc. is an American based global pharmaceutical company which develops and manufactures products on ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, dermatology, neuroscience, urology and cosmetics. Founded in 1948, it has been one of the popular companies in the pharmaceutical industry which has affected the markets by its performance. The company is most famous for developing the Botox drug which many pharmaceutical giants are chasing in recent times. Valeant Pharmaceuticals was on the verge to sign Allergan despite that Allergan was not in favor tosell its Botox drug, but Actavis rescued Allergan with a $66 billion offer.

Botox developer Allergan recently accepted a block buster offer of $66 billion from Actavis which ended a hostile pursuit by activist investor William Ackman and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. for over seven months.

According to Reuters, Actavis PLC., offered $219 per share in cash and stock to Allergan which amounted to billions more than what Valeant Pharmaceuticals was prepared to pay. William Ackman denied commenting anything when Actavis came to sign Allergan with a block buster bid. Moreover, Valeant itself said that it would walk away from its Allergan campaign shortly after the deal was announced.

Reuters reported that “The deal marks a surprise win for Allergan, which had fought the Valeant-Pershing alliance in court and among shareholders in one of the healthcare sector's most complex takeover efforts.” This deal saw an increase in the shares of Allergan by 5.3 percent as they closed at $209.20 when the news came out. Actavis share prices also rose up by 1.7 percent in the market.

Allergan said that the offer by Valeant Pharmaceuticals was of $54 billion which might have hurt the investments of shareholders and investors given that the Canadian drug maker's history of cutting research and development spending at companies it acquires. Hence, the Actavis deal will benefit both parties as two companies will integrate their operations and ensure some of Allergan's promising experimental eye treatments for macular degeneration and glaucoma remain in the pipeline