Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) is buying more and more shares in Mylan Pharmaceutical N.V. on the open market, and its stake has already reached 2.76% of the share capital of Mylan, which it is trying to gain control of. The most recent purchase came two days ago, when Teva paid prices ranging from $73.50 to $74.20 per share, spending over $100 million for 1.5 million shares. The value of Teva's holding in Mylan is already reaching $1 billion.
Teva wants to take over Mylan in a deal for over $40 billion, but the Mylan board of directors, led by chairman Robert Coury, opposes the deal. Teva's purchases of shares in Mylan are frowned on by Mylan, which asserts that they violate US antitrust law. Teva says that it is not violating the law. At the same time, Mylan has prevailed over Teva in one of the legal disputes relating to the attempted takeover.
Reuters reported that Teva has had to sever its connection with the Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that had represented it is the US, and had advised it on the deal, while hiring another firm instead. A US court barred the firm from representing Teva, because it had worked with Mylan since January 2013. Mylan's argument that in view of the extensive access to Mylan's business and products enjoyed by Kirkland & Ellis, advising Teva creates a conflict of interest was accepted by the court. Kirkland & Ellis, on the other hand, asserted that the consultation it gave Mylan was only for specific matters relating to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and said it would oppose the ruling. Nevertheless, Reuters reported that Teva had already hired Sullivan & Cromwell, a different law firm.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 10, 2015
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