Acquisition-hungry Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) stepped into the battle for Canadian cold and flu medicine maker Afexa Life Sciences (FXA.TO) on Tuesday with a friendly C$76 million ($77.6 million) takeover offer that tops a rival bid by 34 percent. The deal would give Valeant control of Canada's No. 1 selling cold and flu medicine, Cold-FX, and let the Mississauga, Ontario-based company pursue its strategy of making Canada a key growth area. The white-knight, all-cash bid of 71 Canadian cents a share has the support of the Afexa board, and Valeant said it had lock-up agreements with Afexa directors and officers holding 8.8 percent of the stock. Shares of Afexa, which has been fighting off a C$56.7 million hostile cash-and-stock bid from Paladin Labs (PLB.TO) since early August, jumped 20 percent to 71 Canadian cents a share, matching the Valeant bid.
Shares of VRX fell by 1.41% or $-0.63/share to $44.03. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.45 and as high as $57.24. On average, 2899400 shares of VRX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 868538.
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