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BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT 13th
August, 2005:Carl Icahn and Icahn Entities has
reportedly sold more than 5% of Mylan
Laboratories' outstanding shares to High River
Limited Partnership, Mr Icahn's company.
Following the acquisition of around 24.8 million
shares in Mylan at a price of US$19.50 per share,
the High River has abandoned its attempt to
acquire King Pharmaceuticals, a company release
said.
High River has also announced a US$1.25 billion
share buy-back; doubled its dividend rate; plans
to exploit its proprietary nebivolol product
through a distribution partner; and the retirement
of two of its non-independent directors.
At the time Mylan's tender offer closed on 15th
July 2005, its stock closed at US$19.40, 32%
higher than before Mr Icahn became involved in the
company, the press release noted.
High River had decided to tender nearly 26.3
million shares in Mylan pursuant to Mylan's tender
offer, and had made the decision late on 15th
July. Part of the reason why the company decided
to tender the shares was a belief that it would be
difficult to win a proxy fight with the stock
trading at its current levels.
Earlier, Mr Icahn offered to buy out Mylan at
US$20 per share, leading to a threat of a proxy
fight. Mr Icahn still believed shareholder value
would be further enhanced if Mylan were put up for
sale and consolidated with a larger company, the
release added.
Mylan responded to the actions by noting that High
River had for the second time dropped its lawsuit
against Mylan relating to the scheduling of
Mylan's annual meeting and adoption of bylaw
changes in February. Mr Icahn had challenged the
validity of the amendments. The lawsuit had been
filed in a Pennsylvania federal district court.
High River had filed a similar lawsuit in March
2005, but then withdrew it after the court denied
High River's application for a temporary
restraining order.
Founded in 1961, Mylan Laboratories is the
sixth-largest generic manufacturer in the world.
Its operations are very much based in the eastern
USA; the company has no significant presence in
overseas markets. The company had 14 ANDAs
approved in 2004 and a further six in the first
four months of 2005.
Sales for the year ended March 31st 2005 amounted
to US$1,253.4 million, a fall of 8.8% compared
with 20004. Of this, generics amounted to
US$1,012.5 million, a fall of 7.6%. Mylan
attributes this fall in revenues to a drop off in
omeprazole revenues and a lack of major new
product launches for much of fiscal 2005.
Generics are manufactured by Mylan
Pharmaceuticals, based in Morgantown, West
Virginia. Recent product launches in the US
include fluconazole and ciprofloxacin. Mylan was
also one of the first companies to bring a generic
version of omeprazole to the US market.
Mylan Technologies is Mylan’s drug delivery
subsidiary, based in St Albans, Vermont. It had
two ANDAs approved in early 2005, for oestradiol
and fentanyl transdermal patches. Mylan has fought
a long-running legal battle to get approval for
its fentanyl product.
Mylan also has a small branded drug operation.
Mylan attempted to hugely boost its branded drug
capacity in 2004, by acquiring King
Pharmaceuticals for US$4 billion. King would also
have allowed Mylan to acquire a large salesforce.
The deal ran into trouble amid shareholder
opposition and restatements of King’s financial
position; it was called off in February 2005. The
setback has led Mylan to begin to rethink its
branded strategy.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT |
