In hopes of making profits in other countries from around the world, Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) is currently in the works of acquiring Actavis, a Swiss drug maker. It was reported that the New Jersey based drug company wants to purchase Actavis for nearly $5.9 million. The deal has yet to be finalized and probably won’t solidify until mid-April. At press time, neither company has spoken officially about the plan.
Watson makes and distributes a wide selection of generic based drugs including Carisoprodol(generic version of Soma), Diazepam(generic version of Valium), Ibuprofen(generic version of Motrin), and Quasense(generic version of Seasonale). They already have locations and facilities around the world including Parsippany, New Jersey; Corona, California; Gurnee, Illinois; Mumbai, India; Shanghai, China; and Northern Ireland.
Actavis is a European drug maker that’s headquarted in Iceland. They have manufacturing facilities in many places including Elizabeth, New Jersey; Lincolntown, North Carolina, Bulgaria, Iceland, Italy, and the United Kingdom among many others.
This wasn’t Watson’s first acqisition. Previous purchases include Andrx Corporation in 2006 and Arrow Group in 2009. Watson Pharmaceuticals has set a record for successful buyouts and they have great plans for Actavis. They want to take a big portion of the drug-making market and set up business affairs in the European market. It makes sense for Watson to acquire Actavis as they rank number five on the market compared to the latter’s number fifteen.
In a dog-eat-dog world, companies are always buying out other companies in an effort to monopolize the market. And while there is really nothing wrong with that per se, it is important to note that buying out all your rival companies could lead to failure. When all the small to medium sized corporations are bought up by one larger corporation, who can they compete with? Hopefully, Watson’s acquistion will take the successful route.
