Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc on Monday prepared to take its $53.8 billion takeover bid for Allergan Inc directly to the Botox maker's shareholders, and ally Pershing Square called for a meeting to turn over the target company's board.Pershing Square Chief Executive Officer Bill Ackman, whose hedge fund owns 9.7 percent of Allergan, said in a conference call with Valeant CEO Mike Pearson that he had requested a special meeting that could take place as early as Aug. 7. Allergan could also delay the meeting, where Pershing intends to replace a majority or more of the company's directors, to as late as November, Ackman said.Pearson said Valeant expected in two to three weeks to file an exchange offer, a means of taking the bid to Allergan shareholders, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also urged Allergan to negotiate with Valeant."We are very committed to getting this deal done," he said.
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 2.13% or $3.571/share to $171.03. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $81.33 and as high as $170.05. On average, 4475300 shares of AGN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2231002.
Source
