Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) CEO Erez Vigodman is determined to acquire generic pharmaceuticals rival Mylan N.V. (Nasdaq: MYL). Teva today announced that it has completed the purchase of a 4.61% stake in Mylan, which gives it legal standing in the Netherlands where Mylan is based. Teva has said it will initiate proceedings "before the Dutch Enterprise Chamber, should it become necessary."
Teva added that it has "advised Stichting Preferred Shares Mylan, that if the Mylan Extraordinary General Meeting on the Perrigo transaction is held no later than August 31, 2015, Teva will limit its aggregate shareholding in Mylan prior to the EGM to less than 5% of the outstanding shares of Mylan."
Mylan has bid $34 billion to acquire Perrigo Company (NYSE:PRGO; TASE:PRGO), while Teva bid over $40 billion to acquire Mylan, contingent on the Perrigo acquisition not going through.
Dutch law gives Mylan added protection against hostile takeovers through the Stichting Preferred Shares Mylan and Dutch Enterprise Chamber which must approve any takeover. Teva has sought to circumvent this poison pill by becoming a Mylan party at interest itself. Mylan claims that Teva's stake in it is against US antitrust law but Teva argues that this is irrelevant because Mylan is no longer a US company, since incorporating in the Netherlands.
Barclays and Greenhill & Co. are serving as financial advisors to Teva. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is serving as legal counsel to Teva, with De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V. acting as legal advisor in the Netherlands.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 19, 2015
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