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It didn't take long for serial acquirer Valeant ($VRX) to jump back into the dealmaking saddle after failing to snag Allergan ($AGN) last year. Now, the Canadian pharma has inked its second agreement of the month--a $10.1 billion pickup of North Carolina's Salix Pharmaceuticals ($SLXP) that will ring in as its largest deal ever.
Valeant will shell out $158 per share in cash for GI specialist Salix, which had also drawn takeover interest from Shire ($SHPG) and Endo ($ENDP). The Quebec-based drugmaker expects the deal to close in the second quarter of 2015 and pad its 2016 EPS by 20%, it said in a Sunday statement.
[Image omitted] - (http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/salix-buy-valeant-bets-10b-gi-market-growth/2015-02-23)
Valeant CEO J. Michael Pearson
True to CEO J. Michael Pearson 's ways, the company will be looking to cut more than $500 million in operating costs to help it reach that earnings target, and Valeant expects to achieve savings within 6 months of the deal's close....