Allergan Inc has revived discussions to purchase Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential.The exact status of the discussions between the two drugmakers could not be immediately established. Spokesmen for Allergan and Salix declined to comment.Botox maker Allergan is trying to seal a deal with Salix in order to fend off a $53 billion hostile offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. Salix said in July it would merge with an Irish subsidiary of Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA in a so-called tax inversion.Top Salix shareholders do not like the deal with Cosmo and are likely to vote it down, Reuters reported last week, putting pressure on the company to consider a takeover offer instead.
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 fell by 1.24% or $-2.09/share to $166.12. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $88.34 and as high as $174.49. On average, 1928600 shares of AGN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1133657.
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