Allergan PLC amended the terms of its pending $2.1 billion deal
for double-chin treatment maker Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. by
agreeing to pay for it all in cash and dropping the stock
component.
In a news release Wednesday, the companies expect the all-cash
transaction at $75 a share can be completed more quickly than the
original deal announced in June, which was comprised of 80% cash
and 20% stock.
At the time, Allergan Chief Executive Brent Saunders said the
maker of wrinkle-treatment Botox had opted against an all-cash deal
to save "fire power for future deals" this year.
Since then, Allergan has agreed to sell its generics unit to
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in a cash-and-stock deal valued
at $40.5 billion, of which $33.75 billion is expected to be in
cash.
Allergan and several other health-products companies have been
on a deal-making binge in recent years with the help of low
interest rates, and to cope with pricing pressures and relatively
high U.S. corporate tax rates.
In April, Kythera won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval
for injections given to eliminate the fat that makes double chins.
Many doctors had been looking to add the new drug, called Kybella,
to their arsenal of cosmetic treatments that include wrinkle-eraser
Botox.
Allergan is counting on the interest in a new cosmetic treatment
to bolster its market-leading cosmetic-medicine portfolio, and help
it propel Kybella to sales exceeding Kythera's goals of $500
million in the U.S.
Actavis was renamed Allergan earlier this year, after doing $100
billion in deals last year that gave it brand-name drugs, notably
wrinkle fighter Botox. Actavis acquired Allergan in a deal valued
at $70.5 billion, the biggest from 2014. The deal ended one of the
year's more dramatic takeover battles in which Dublin-based Actavis
beat out Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. for
Allergan.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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