Μεγάλος χορός φαίνεται να έχει στηθεί το
τελευταίο διάστημα γύρω από την Actavis. Πριν λίγες ημέρες έγινε γνωστό ότι η εταιρία απέρριψε σύμφωνα με διεθνείς
οικονομικούς αναλυτές μια πολύ ελκυστική προσφορά της ανταγωνίστριας Mylan για
την εξαγορά της. Ταυτόχρονα η εταιρία ανακοίνωσε ότι εξετάζει το ενδεχόμενο
εξαγοράς της Warner
Chilcott.
Ωστόσο,
χθες Πέμπτη 16 Μαΐου, κυκλοφόρησαν έντονες φήμες στο διεθνή τύπο που θέλουν τη Novartis να
έχει εκδηλώσει ενδιαφέρον για την εξαγορά της Actavis. Πηγές όμως της Novartis διαψεύδουν τις φήμες
αυτές. Πάντως σε κάθε περίπτωση προς το παρόν ωφελημένη από τις φήμες βγαίνει η
Actavis
αφού βλέπει τη μετοχή της να καλπάζει ανοδικά με ξέφρενο ρυθμό.
Διαβάστε
τι γράφει ο διεθνής οικονομικός τύπος γι’ αυτό το θέμα.
Novartis Considers Possible Bid for Actavis.
A heated
takeover battle has erupted around generic-drug company Actavis Inc. as
industry players seek to shore themselves up amid increasing competition and
fewer new knock-off-drug opportunities.
Valeant
Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and Mylan Inc. are evaluating their options
after approaches they made for Parsippany, N.J.-based Actavis were rebuffed,
according to people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Novartis AG, the Swiss
pharmaceuticals giant, is considering whether to enter the fray, possibly by
launching its own bid for Actavis, one of the people said.
Actavis,
which has a market capitalization of nearly $16 billion, is also in
negotiations to buy smaller rival Warner Chilcott PLC, the companies disclosed
last week. It's unclear
whether any new takeover offer for Actavis will materialize or whether the
company will ultimately seal a deal for Warner Chilcott, which has failed in
prior efforts to sell itself. But the companies' scramble to consolidate shows
how the generic-drug industry's dynamics have become more challenging amid
intense price competition and fewer opportunities to cash in on patent
expirations of big-selling branded pharmaceuticals. Analysts also say the
industry is ripe for consolidation because it remains relatively fragmented and
companies need critical mass to compete.
At the
center of the takeover scrum is Actavis, the world's third-largest generic-drug
company by sales. Faced with a difficult market environment, the company has
been expanding into other businesses including branded drugs in specialty
niches, such as those for urological conditions and contraception. Some of its
products include the enlarged-prostate treatment Rapaflo and Gelnique for an
overactive bladder.
About 75% of
Actavis's sales still come from generic drugs, including versions of Pfizer
Inc.'s (PFE) cholesterol-lowering pill Lipitor, and Johnson & Johnson's
(JNJ) Concerta treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Actavis also
has placed a bet on growth in biosimilars, which are rough copies of drugs that
are derived from living cells. The market for these drugs is still nascent but
could take off in coming years.
Actavis has suddenly
become the belle of the ball.
The Wall Street Journal reports that deal talk is heating
up, with Novartis said to be
entertaining a $16 billion bid for the generics maker. A $13 billion offer from
Valeant and a $15 billion bid from Mylan
have both fallen flat.
Analysts have said that, among big drugmakers, Novartis has the most to
gain from an Actavis buyout. Aegis Capital's Raghuram Selvaraju told Bloomberg last month that adding
Actavis to its portfolio "would mean more to Novartis than anyone
else" in terms of meeting its ambitions for its generics business. A
Novartis spokesman denied that the company had any interest in an Actavis
buyout, however.
Novartis's generics unit, Sandoz, brought in $8.7 billion last year;
for comparison's sake, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' generic sales last year amounted to $10.4
billion. Actavis, created in last year's merger with Watson Pharmaceuticals, had pro forma 2012 sales of about
$8 billion.
The flurry of talk around a possible Actavis buyout, whoever the
potential buyer, just serves to show how ripe for consolidation the generics
business is. Expect more talk to swirl until someone actually does step forward
with a new Actavis offer or until Actavis wraps up its own potential $5 billion
deal for Warner Chilcot
Novartis itself says
it has "no intention" of pursuing an Actavis deal.
Novartis has no plans to bid for U.S.-based generic
drugmaker Actavis,
which is the subject of intense takeover speculation. "We have no intention to pursue them,"
spokesman Eric Althoff
said on Thursday in response to inquiries.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Novartis -
which operates a large generics business called Sandoz - was considering
whether to enter the fray, after Actavis rebuffed separate takeover offers from
Valeant Pharmaceuticals
International Inc and Mylan Inc.
So the sources talking about Novartis jumping
into the bidding may be mistaken, or Novartis, of course, may be keeping its
plans close to the vest. The talk itself was enough to boost Actavis shares to
$124.13 this morning.
