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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

NEWSMAKER-Valeant CEO breaks the mold in building drug empire, (NYSE: AGN)

At any given time, the acquisitive chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc is brokering multiple deal discussions and eyeing as many as 50 buying opportunities. It's not the usual way of doing business in the drug sector, where research and development is often considered a company's lifeblood. But then there is little that's typical about Michael Pearson's approach to business.Pearson's latest target, with help from activist investor Bill Ackman, is Allergan Inc, maker of anti-wrinkle treatment Botox. Valeant and Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management launched an unsolicited $47 billion bid on Tuesday to purchase the company.The deal is another bold step in a strategy Pearson put into motion soon after leaving McKinsey & Co, where he spent 23 years advising companies - including Valeant - on turnarounds, acquisitions and strategy. Within the pharmaceuticals industry, that makes him a consummate outsider, a Canadian-born CEO with the eye of a strategic management consultant.Named Valeant's chief executive in 2008, Pearson started snapping up dermatology products such as sunscreen and anti-aging items in a plan with aggressive revenue growth targets. In 2010, Canada's Biovail Corp and U.S.-based Valeant merged, with the combined company assuming the Valeant name, the Canadian head office, and keeping Pearson as CEO.

Allergan, Inc. is a multi-specialty health care Company focused on developing and commercializing pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices and over-the-counter products. Shares of AGN traded higher by 15.25% or $21.65/share to $163.65. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $81.33 and as high as $142.00. On average, 3082310 shares of AGN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 32426528.



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