STOCKHOLM--The board of Swedish specialty pharmaceuticals
company Meda AB (MEDA-A.SK) Monday rejected a sweetened merger bid
from U.S. peer Mylan Inc. (MYL), saying it prefers to remain a
stand-alone company, while a lack of support from its largest
shareholder would scupper the deal anyway.
Earlier this month Mylan, one of the world's biggest generic
drug makers by sales, approached Meda with a merger proposal but
was shown short shrift. Mylan came back with an improved bid
Friday, thought to be $6.7 billion, which has again been dismissed
by the Swedish company.
"All contacts between Meda and Mylan have been terminated
without further actions," the company said. "The Board's decision
is based on a strong belief in the continued potential of Meda as a
stand-alone company and the assumption that a transaction cannot be
completed as it lacks sufficient support from Meda's largest
shareholder."
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; Twitter:
@WSJNordics
Corrections & Amplifications
This story was corrected at 0712 GMT because the bid price in
the second paragraph was misstated as $6.7 million.
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