Botox firm makes $3.2b offer for rival
LOS ANGELES -- Botox maker Allergan Inc. made a $3.2 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy Inamed Corp. yesterday, setting up a potential bidding war for the cosmetic surgery product manufacturer, which already was in talks to be acquired by Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.
The Irvine, Calif., drug maker's offer topped a $2.8 billion cash-and-stock bid in March by Medicis, placing into question whether Inamed would break its agreement to be acquired by the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based pharmaceutical company.
Allergan is offering $84 in cash or 0.8498 of a share of common Allergan stock for Inamed.
The deal between Inamed and Medicis valued Inamed at about $75 per share at the time it was made.
''Because Allergan is larger than Medicis and very strong financially, we believe it is unlikely Medicis would beat Allergan in a bidding war, should one ensue," said Gregory Gilbert, an analyst with Merrill Lynch in New York.
Inamed shares surged to a 52-week high on the news, while shares of Allergen and Medicis fell.
''This acquisition marks a significant expansion of our existing medical aesthetics franchise," said David E.I. Pyott, Allergan's chairman, president, and chief executive, in a statement.
In a statement yesterday, Medicis reaffirmed its desire to consummate its deal with Inamed.
Santa Barbara-based Inamed emerged as an attractive target for Allergan and Medicis because it potentially could allow either firm to gain a competitive advantage in the lucrative facial cosmetic treatment market.
In addition to its breast augmentation and other businesses, Inamed makes Reloxin, a product similar to Allergan's Botox, and has the US development and distribution rights for the dermal filler Juvederm, a new type of synthetic collagen used to diminish wrinkles.
Most physicians like to use a combination of Botox or similar botulinum toxin product and a dermal filler, like Medicis' market-leading Restylane, to treat patients.
Allergan doesn't make a dermal filler, and Medicis doesn't sell a drug to compete with Botox. But acquiring Inamed would set either firm up to sell both treatments together, said Ken Trbovich, specialty pharmaceuticals analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
