Valeant admits disappointment at loss of takeover target Allergan to Actavis

19 November 2014

Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceutical International (TSX: VRX) has admitted that the loss of hostile takeover target Allergan was 'disappointing'. After a long battle, Allergan (NYSE: AGN) was eventually taken over by Ireland-headquartered Actavis (NYSE: ACT) on Monday.

Laurie Little, senior vice president of investor relations, spoke at the Jefferies 2014 Global Healthcare Conference, in her first presentation since the news on Monday. She said: "It's disappointing but a deal is only successful if you win at the right price. Hostile is not our preferred method, but we had so many Allergan shareholders saying that we should take a look at it. They waged a good PR battle - that's the sum of it - we could have come out a little bit stronger. We didn't think it would be easy but the negativity that was thrown at us was higher than anticipated."

She said the company was known for being acquisitive but added: "We don't feel an urgency to do a large deal, we need a few days to rest."

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