Coinciding with Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN)’s earnings report this morning, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) released a letter to Allergan management that said it is willing to increase its unsolicited bid to more than $200 a share. The drug maker also said that its third quarter earnings report refuted the “baseless attacks” launched by Allergan management.
Valeant says it helped Allergan shares
Valeant Pharmaceuticals said that if it had not made an unsolicited bid for Allergan, Allergan’s shares probably wouldn’t be “trading anywhere near” where they are right now. Valeant pointed out that shares of Allergan were at $110 toward the beginning of the year and $117 right before the company made its offer. Also the market and peer group have remained flat year to date.
Meanwhile Valeant said it thinks its shares are “trading at artificially low levels” and that its shareholders say that they should be trading higher than $150. The company pointed out that Allergan’s banker included Valeant on its Conviction Buy List and had set a $164 per share price target before the company made its offer and even before it gave its 2015 guidance.
Valeant to up Allergan bid
Valeant management also said they are prepared to increase their offer to at least $200 per share. They think that increases in Valeant’s share price will “provide that value.” In addition, the company said that none of Allergan’s other potential acquirers has the amount of “operational and tax synergies” Valeant can provide.
Additionally, Valeant noted that many of Allergan’s biggest shareholders, including the largest shareholder other than Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, has dumped all or some of their shares. In addition, several of them have spoken out about Allergan management’s actions and point out that both Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis “have been highly critical” of the Botox maker’s board of directors.
“Management has shown its true colors through ‘horse-choking’ bylaws, baseless attacks and frivolous litigation,” Valeant Chairman and CEO J. Michael Pearson wrote in beginning to wrap up the letter. “It is past time for the board to take control of this process, do what is right for the Allergan shareholders and come to the table. December 18 is not far away.”
