King not looking to buy C-W pharma unit

King Pharmaceuticals has issued a statement saying that that it is notplanning to acquire the pharmaceutical business of Carter-Wallace, following an article published in the Wall Street Journal on January 9, which indicated that King had expressed an interest to do so.

Kyle Macione, a spokesman for King, told Bloomberg that the firm wanted to "put the story to rest," adding that "we evaluate many opportunities on an ongoing basis but we decided not to pursue this because it wasn't a strategic fit." King's most recent significant foray into the merger arena was its acquisition of Jones Pharma, in a deal valued at $3.4 billion (Marketletter September 11, 2000).