The auctioneer's gavel has come down for Par Pharmaceuticals ($PRX). The generics maker, with a $1.9 billion offer from TPG Capital in hand, had solicited competing bids--but none of the tire-kickers came through.
More than 40 potential bidders stepped forward during the go-shop period after Par and TPG came to terms. Three were serious enough to sign confidentiality agreements. But in the end, none made a formal bid.
So, the Texas-based private equity group will get Par for $50 per share, provided shareholders vote in favor at a special meeting next month.
Among those shareholders, of course, is Relational Investors, led by activist shareholder Ralph Whitworth. The group started agitating for a sale earlier this year, and as Dow Jones reports, met with Par officials in April. Whitworth figured that Par needed to join a consolidation wave in the generics business. Par had already snapped up some smaller rivals--including Anchen Pharmaceuticals, in a $410 million deal last year. But apparently that wasn't big enough for Whitworth.
- read the Dow Jones piece
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