Pliva says $1.6 billion offer from Iceland's Actavis undervalues the firm

Acquisitive Icelandic pharmaceutical firm Actavis has made an offer to acquire the Croatian generics drugmaker Pliva, for 570 kunas a share, for a total of around $1.6 billion, which it says represents a premium of 35% over the company's average share price during the last three months.

Reykjavic-based Actavis noted that a combination with Pliva would form the third-largest generic pharmaceutical company globally, with a leading presence in key world markets. Significantly increased scale would provide an opportunity to optimize manufacturing, distribution and overheads and would enable Actavis to market Pliva's portfolio to its international network, it added.

Actavis' recent acquisitions have included those of Hungary's Keri Pharma, Bulgaria' s Higia, Ophtha of Denmark and the US firm Amide Pharmaceuticals for $500.0 million (Marketletter May 30, 2005) and fellow USA-based Alpharma's generics business. The latter, which cost Actavis $810.0 million (Marketletter October 24, 2005), has resulted in the world's fourth-largest generic pharmaceutical group, with 20.6% of its sales now generated in the USA, the company says. It also bought Pliva's Nordic subsidiary in 2004.