Pliva takeover: Barr ready to satisfy regulators

Barr Pharmaceuticals, the American drug company, has said it is ready to satisfy any requirement imposed by trade regulators in the latest development in the bidding war between Barr and Actavis for PLIVA, the Croatian pharmaceutical company.

PLIVA has been the subject of a series of bids from Barr and Actavis, an Icelandic pharmaceutical company. Both companies claim their offers represent the best interests of PLIVA shareholders as well as the development of the Zagreb-based company, which manufactures mainly generic drugs.

Under takeover law, Barr had to meet with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to satisfy antitrust and monopolies legislation.

Following this meeting, Bruce L Downey, Barr’s chairman and chief executive officer, stated: “As we anticipated, FTC issues related to this transaction were minimal, as there is very little overlap in our product lines, markets and operations.”

“As a result of our discussions with the staff of the FTC and with third parties regarding divestiture agreements, we intend to proceed expeditiously in officially filing our tender offer in accordance with Croatian takeover law and [the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency’s] instructions,” he added.

Barr’s original offer of $2.2 billion was recommended by PLIVA’s supervisory board, although the board now says that shareholders should not do anything with their shares until the full offers from both Barr and Actavis have been published.

PLIVA operates its UK operations from Petersfield, in Hampshire. PLIVA describes itself as the largest pharmaceutical company in central and eastern Europe by sales.

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