Actavis Targets Generics Rival Pliva

20 March, 2006

Takeover activity in the generic drug industry is reaching fever pitch as companies jockey for position in a highly competitive market. In the most recent consolidation move, Iceland-based Actavis has made an unsolicited bid for the Croatian generic drug firm Pliva.

If successful, the $1.6 billion deal would make Actavis the third-largest generic company in the world. "Croatia would become the hub for Central and Eastern Europe and a key center for future R&D and manufacturing, providing significant support for all of our other international markets," says Actavis President and CEO Robert Wessman.

Actavis has offered Pliva 570 Croatian kunas per share (about $94), which Actavis says is a 35% premium over Pliva's average share price over the past three months. However, Pliva points out that the bid is a mere 12% above its closing price on March 16 and says the deal would undervalue the progress it has made in improving its profitability.

Pliva, once highly dependent on its license of the antibiotic Zithromax to Pfizer, has struggled since the drug lost patent protection in the U.S. The company recently sold its proprietary drug R&D operations to GlaxoSmithKline, and has been working to consolidate its manufacturing network.

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To read more, Visit:
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i13/8413Actavis.html