Valeant abandons effort to acquire ISTA

Nearly two weeks after upping the ante by offering an extra dollar per share for the eye drug company, Valeant withdraws its hostile takeover bid a day early
| 1 min read
Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario—The morning of Jan. 30 saw Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. announce that it has withdrawn its offer to acquireISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $7.50 per share in cash—a transaction that would have carried a total equity value of approximately $360 million.
 
Valeant had previously announced that the offer would remain open until Jan. 31, 2012, but withdrew the offer a day early "due to lack of progress."
 
"Aswe stated last December, we were not interested in participating in alengthy evaluation process and we are disappointed that the ISTA teamwas not willing to fully explore our proposal by Jan. 31," stated J. Michael Pearson,chairman and CEO of Valent. "We continue to be disciplinedon our M&A strategy and we are actively working on otheropportunities that we believe can create value for our shareholders. Wewish the ISTA team well in their future endeavors."
 
Irvine, Calif.-based ISTA notes in its own official statement that it is talking multiple parties "that have expressed an interest in pursuing a strategic transaction," and adding that it "remains committed to maximizing shareholder value."

"Werepeatedly offered Valeant the opportunity to participate in ourstrategic review process on a level playing field with others, but itwas clear Valeant was only interested in an approach that would haveeffectively excluded others," Vincente Anido Jr., ISTA's CEO, said in thestatement. "We informed Valeant that there were simply too many othercompanies that had indicated strong interest in ISTA for us to take thatapproach."

Valeant had initially made a $6.50-per-share offer in December, which would have valued ISTA at roughly  $314 million, then raised its offer by a dollar per share on Jan. 17.

About the Author

Related Topics

Loading Next Article...
Loading Next Article...
Subscribe to Newsletter

Subscribe to our eNewsletters

Stay connected with all of the latest from Drug Discovery News.

Subscribe

Sponsored

Surface rendering of two interacting proteins (green and peach) bound together by a small molecule ligand at their interface, illustrating a protein-ligand binding event.
Learn how molecular dynamics, AI-aided design, and structural insights combine to reshape how therapeutic proteins are created, validated, and optimized.
Stem cells are shown as clear, purple, and blue spheres against a dark blue and black background.
Human-relevant, ready-to-use stem cell models are reshaping drug discovery, toxicity testing, and personalized medicine.
Characterizing lipid nanoparticles for RNA therapeutic development
Integrated multiomics and advanced nanoparticle analytics are improving how researchers perform RNA delivery, increasing therapeutic success.
Drug Discovery News March 2025 Issue
Latest IssueVolume 21 • Issue 1 • March 2025

March 2025

March 2025 Issue

Explore this issue