Actavis shelves sale after buyers balk at price

What if you put a generics company up for sale, and no one wanted to buy it? Just ask Actavis, the Iceland-based drugmaker that was put on the block after its billionaire owner lost his shirt in that country's banking collapse. The company is putting its sale on hold, sources told Bloomberg, because bidders didn't want to pay the $6.6 billion asking price.

Potential buyers were worried by some recent production troubles in the U.S. and by a currency-driven drop in revenue growth, the sources said. Plus, Actavis is laden with billions in debt. But that doesn't mean the company won't go on the block again soon, particularly if credit markets improve. An Actavis spokeswoman told Reuters that "all strategic options continue to be reviewed and evaluated."

Among the companies that eyed an Actavis buy--and passed--were Teva Pharmaceutical, Sanofi-Aventis, and Watson Pharmaceuticals.

- read the Bloomberg story
- check out the news from Reuters

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