Valeant CEO Owns the Blame for Allergan Buyout Failure

Jan. 22, 2015

Last year's 7-month long Valeant/Allergan struggle was the subject of much media and analyst attention. Now that it is all said and done, Valeant CEO Mike Pearson has revealed some regrets.

Last April Valeant Pharmaceuticals and activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman made an unsolicited $47 billion bid for Allergan. After numerous complications and lawsuits, the messy acquisition attempt finally ended with Actavis stepping in in November, acquiring Allergan for $66B -- $12B more than Valeant's takeover bid attempt.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Pearson admits to have made a "major miscalculation" in terms of potential rival offers, naively thinking Actavis was not as big of a threat as larger companies paying all cash would be.

Pearson also owned the fact that Valeant did a poor job communicating its attitude towards innovation and R&D -- an concern that was repeatedly raised with Allergan's board members.

Pearson noted to investors that they should not expect another deal on the same scale as the Allergan run in 2015.

Read the FT article