So far, Perrigo hasn't seemed too keen on selling itself to generics giant Mylan ($MYL). It's rejected the U.S. drugmaker three times. But word has it that Perrigo tried to link arms with another generics giant on the block--and that's Mylan suitor Teva ($TEVA).
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| Mylan Chairman Robert Coury |
Perrigo ($PRGO) hired bankers last summer to assess the possibility of a sale to a large drugmaker, and those bankers approached the Israeli company with a deal proposition, sources told Israeli newspaper Globes. But Teva turned it down, likely because Perrigo operates mainly in the OTC store-brand market--a corner Teva's not currently in.
Teva's position on folding in Perrigo doesn't seem to have changed since then, either. If Mylan does manage to snag the Irish OTC specialist--which it's promised to do, time and again--Teva will take its $40-billion-plus offer off the table. Meanwhile, though, Teva has set to work trying to convince shareholders that it's a better fit for Mylan, and that the combo could "transform the global generics space."
Mylan, on the other hand, may be interested in having it all: Last week, Chairman Robert Coury told investors his company would be willing to look at buying Teva down the line--after it swallows Perrigo. By then, though, Coury thinks Mylan could also make an attractive target for Pfizer ($PFE) or deal partner for Novartis' ($NVS) Sandoz, Bloomberg reports.
But there's at least one near-term problem with that plan, and that's that Perrigo isn't having it. Since striking down Mylan's initial offer, Perrigo has dismissed two follow-up bids within hours of the company's announcing them.
Most recently, just 103 minutes after Mylan said it would pay $232.23 per share for Perrigo--$75 per share in cash and 2.3 Mylan shares for each Perrigo share--Perrigo fired back, claiming that Mylan "continues to propose a price lower than the previously rejected proposal."
Mylan may be readying another sweetened proposal. Coury has privately told investors that the company is working on improvements to its cash-and-stock offer that would add terms to reduce shareholder risk, Bloomberg notes.
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