Ackman, confident Valeant can outbid Actavis, suggests an Allergan auction

Bill Ackman

Now that Allergan ($AGN) has two interested buyers on its trail between Valeant ($VRX) and Actavis ($ACT), leading shareholder and Valeant partner Bill Ackman has an idea: Run an auction. "Now that the company is seriously considering a sale, it is incumbent upon the board to maximize shareholder value by running a sale process that will generate the highest value," he wrote in a Friday letter to Allergan's board, as quoted by Bloomberg. If that happens, he's confident his side will come out victorious. "We believe that Valeant can pay substantially more for Allergan" than Actavis, he said." Allergan, for its part is all ears. "If Valeant were to make an increased offer, the board would carefully consider it and respond in due course," a spokesman said in a statement. But so far, he noted, the Canadian pharma's offers haven't come close to correctly valuing the company, as far as it's concerned. Report | More