Saturday, February 20, 2016
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. made concessions to European Union regulators for its takeover of Allergan Plc’s generics unit, potentially averting a lengthy probe into the $40.5 billion tie-up.
The EU extended its deadline to rule on the deal until March 10 after the companies submitted commitments, according to a website filing on Friday, giving no details on what the companies had offered. Businesses can allay regulators’ antitrust concerns by pledging to sell units or change their future behavior.
Teva’s bid for Allergan’s generics drugs business will make it the world’s largest maker of generic medicines, giving it greater negotiating power with governments and private-health insurers. Allergan will receive a $1 billion termination fee from Teva if the deal fails to close due to regulatory issues.
Teva didn’t immediately comment when asked what it had offered. The companies are aiming to avoid an extended probe that can last about 90 working days, a person familiar with the review said this week. Teva and Allergan plan to close the deal by the end of March.
"Both of these companies have been through this drill several times in the past and have a good understanding of how the EU will assess their overlaps, and therefore likely have a good perspective on what concessions will be needed to get clearance," said Jennifer Rie, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. "They will likely be fairly realistic in what they offer up and close to what the EU may want."
Source : bloomberg.com
