REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Oct. 20, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Actavis Group (ICEX:ACT), the international generic pharmaceuticals company, announces that a total of 20.8% of PLIVA's share capital that Actavis controls through a combination of share ownership and options to acquire shares has been tendered into Barr's offer to acquire all outstanding shares in PLIVA at HRK820 per share.
The shareholding was a strategic stake acquired by Actavis to support its proposed bid for PLIVA. Following Actavis' Board's decision not to increase its offer above the price of HRK820 per share being offered by Barr Pharmaceuticals for PLIVA, Actavis has withdrawn its proposal and no longer sees the benefits of retaining its shareholding in PLIVA.
The capital gains realized from the sale of the shares will be used to offset the majority of the advisory costs incurred in connection with Actavis' proposed EUR2 billion (US$2.5 billion) acquisition of PLIVA. This highly complex process has included intensive due diligence of PLIVA's operation and managing the process of anti-trust clearance in 14 countries. In addition, Actavis has incurred significant exceptional financing costs due to the requirement under the Croatian Take-Over Code that bidders must post an irrevocable fully financed guarantee for the full value of the bid. The net negative impact on the Group's P&L will be EUR25 million and will be accounted for in the third quarter under financial items. This one off item will not affect the Company's financial guidance for the full year 2006 of double digit underlying growth over 2005 and an EBITDA margin between 20% and 21%.
As previously announced, third quarter financial results will be affected by normal seasonal variations with lower revenue and EBITDA margin than the two previous quarters in 2006.
Robert Wessman, President and CEO of Actavis, said: "The sale of our shareholding in PLIVA concludes our interest in acquiring the business. While we believe that the combination of Actavis with PLIVA would have created one of the most exciting companies in our industry, we will not jeopardize shareholder value by overpaying for assets. Instead, we will continue to build upon our strong underlying business and pursue other opportunities to achieve continued superior growth and strong returns to our shareholders."