UPDATE: The Financial Times and Associated Press reported on Sunday that Valeant had agrees to buy Salix for $158 per share, or about $10.1 billion in cash.
The Canadian company also won approval from a bankruptcy court judge over the weekend to buy assets from Seattle-based Dendreon, the now-defunct maker of prostate cancer drug Provenge, for $495 million. That figure is about $95 million higher than Valeant's original proposed bid and includes a new Dendreon asset called D-3263, the WSJ reports.
But these two deals only represent the first big steps in a series of planned acquisitions, according to Valeant CEO Michael Pearson. On Monday, Pearson said that the company will "use its new acquisitions of Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Dendreon Corp assets for smaller buys that fit into those businesses," according to the Associated Press. The Dendreon deal is expected to close by the summer.
Dive Brief:
- Valeant Pharmaceuticals is close to securing a buyout deal for Salix Pharmaceuticals worth about $10.2 billion (about 7.3% over its market cap), a source close to the situation told Reuters on Friday. (Updated above.)
- Valeant is reportedly considering paying about $160 per share for Salix, whose stock price is already spiking on the news.
- The unnamed source told Reuters that the deal could be announced as soon as next week.
Dive Insight:
One of 2015's early acquisition dramas may be approaching its curtain call (Updated above).
Multiple companies have been scuffling for a Salix bid, as BioPharma Dive has previously reported, including Shire and Endo. But Valeant laid its stake pretty early on and secured financing for the potential deal last week.
If this deal closes, Valeant will have bought itself a decent consolation prize after its failed (and heavily publicized) hostile takeover bid for Allergan. Salix has suffered from wholesale inventory bookkeeping issues, which have led several C-suite execs to step down from their roles—but its top-selling IBS med and bowel drug portfolio made it a perfect target for acquisition.