Dive Brief:
- Allergan and Actavis are reportedly in merger talks that would involve Actavis buying Allergan for roughly $60 billion.
- The goal is to have a decision in place by December 18, when Allergan has its next investors' meeting. Talks are going well, according to Bloomberg. There is currently a $3 billion difference between the offered price and the requested one.
- If this deal is successfully in place and executed, Allergan will have successfully staved off Valeant's and Bill Ackman's advances.
Dive Insight:
The general consensus is that Allergan and Actavis have a good shot of moving forward, with Valeant being left out in the cold. Allergan has called Valeant's offer "grossly insufficient" and publicly decried its approach to growth through acquisition without regard for creating true value.
While $3 billion may stand in the way at the moment, Allergan and Actavis still have two months to come to an agreement. The difference in stock price is Allergan's goal of a buy-out price of $210 per share and Actavis's anticipated offer of closer to $200. That's a gap that almost assuredly can be bridged.