VRX Bausch Health Cos

By Jacquie McNish and Charley Grant 

Michael Pearson has sold nearly $100 million of his stock in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. in the past two weeks, according to securities filings, following his firing as the troubled drugmaker's chief executive in March.

Mr. Pearson sold 288,441 shares on June 30 for $5.8 million, and sold another 411,601 shares for $8.2 million on July 5, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. One filing also indicates Mr. Pearson sold another 4,144,687 shares -- a large portion of his remaining Valeant stake -- for $82.9 million on July 1.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Pearson couldn't provide further details about the stock sales.

Mr. Pearson's sales came at about $20 a share, near multiyear lows for Valeant's share price, which has fallen more than 90% from its recent peak in August 2015 amid questions about the company's drug pricing and business strategy. Mr. Pearson was succeeded at Valeant in May by Joseph Papa , who had been Perrigo Co.'s CEO.

Some of the shares Mr. Pearson sold stemmed from exercising options he had been granted by Valeant as far back as 2008, with exercise prices as low as $12 a share, according to company filings.

A spokeswoman for Valeant said Mr. Pearson recently exercised options that were about to expire. He is required to hold one million Valeant shares for two years after his termination and continues have a "significant ownership" in the company, the spokeswoman said.

Mr. Pearson's holdings in Valeant totaled more than nine million shares earlier this year, according to Valeant filings.

Mr. Pearson, named CEO in 2008, was paid through an unusually generous compensation plan that awarded him large option and stock unit grants when Valeant's stock price hit steep target price increases, though the share grants he was awarded in 2015 are now worthless because of the plunge in the company's stock price over the past year.

Valeant shares fell 6.9% Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $21.62. The shares were hurt when short-seller Andrew Left, who criticized Valeant harshly last fall, indicated he had taken a renewed short position in the company.

In an email message, Mr. Left said he held a small, new short position and some out-of-the-money call options. He said he thinks Valeant's stock will ultimately go to zero, though not immediately. "It will take time but I wouldn't want to be long" the stock, he said.

Valeant declined to comment on Mr. Left's remarks. News of his new short position was reported earlier by TheStreet.com.

Separately, Valeant lost another longtime investor Tuesday when Sequoia Fund Inc. told investors in a letter Tuesday that it sold what remained of its stake during the second quarter. It began paring the position earlier this year.

Valeant at one time accounted for more than 30% of Sequoia's portfolio. But steep losses on the investment triggered investor withdrawals and the resignation of the fund's longtime manager Robert Goldfarb in March. Mr. Goldfarb was an advocate of Mr. Pearson and Valeant.

Write to Jacquie McNish at Jacquie.McNish@wsj.com and Charley Grant at charles.grant@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2016 02:49 ET (06:49 GMT)

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