Watson Pharma to Buy Actavis For $5.6 Billion

By Peter Geschek:In 2013 Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI) is changing its name to Actavis because the brand is more recognizable globally and to avoid confusion with other businesses also called Watson.

By Robert Broens: Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI) ended the week 10% higher after the integrated global pharmaceutical company acquired privately held Actavis Group for Euro 4.25 billion. The Deal

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc is close to buying Swiss-based Actavis for around $7 billion, marking the latest deal between generics companies racing to achieve econ

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc is close to buying Swiss-based Actavis for around $7 billion, marking the latest deal between generics companies racing to achieve economies of scale, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deal would see U.S.-based Watson, already among the world's five largest generic drugmakers, paying between 5.0 billion and 5.5 billion euros ($6.6-7.3 billion) for Actavis, a business of comparable size to its own, the sources said. ...

Actavis announced the acquisition of its Dublin-based competitor Warner Chilcott for $5 billion, which will turn it into world’s third biggest generic drug company by market share, reported Financial Times.    The total amount of the deal is $8.5 billion including net debt as well. In the recent months other pharmaceutical giants like Valeant and Mylan made attempts to acquire Actavis as part of the trend of rapid consolidation in the industry.   

US drug maker Watson Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday it will buy Iceland-based Actavis for 4.25 billion euros ($5.62 billion), creating the world's third-largest generic drugs company.Watson, maker of a generic version of Lipitor, Pfizer's blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug, said the acquisition of the privately held Actavis would greatly expand its global footprint.

(Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday it agreed to buy Actavis Group for at least 4.25 billion euros ($5.60 billion), in a deal that cements its status as one of the world's biggest suppliers of generic drugs. Reuters first reported on March 21 that U.S.-based Watson was close to buying the Swiss drugmaker to help it compete more effectively against rivals Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and the Novartis unit Sandoz. ($1 = 0.7585 euros) (Reporting By Lewis Krauskopf in New York and Ben Hirschler in London)

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Actavis, the Swiss generic drugmaker that Watson Pharmaceuticals is taking over, said revenue would rise to more than 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) this year, driven by patent expiries in Europe and strong demand in the United States. Sales would increase by a double-digit percentage rate in 2012, Actavis Chief Executive Claudio Albrecht told Reuters late on Thursday, also citing growth in Far Eastern markets such as Indonesia. "In terms of profits we are growing even faster than sales," he added. Actavis posted 2011 sales of $2. ...