Bloomberg reports that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) could publish a bid for its US rival Mylan Inc. (MYL) today, in what could turn out to be the largest deal of the year in pharmaceuticals.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg says that Teva is working with Barclays Bank on a takeover bid for Mylan, which has a current market cap of $33.3 billion, and is in touch with other banks on finance for such a deal.
According to the report, Teva is working on the final stages of a bid, although it is possible that in the end the move will not go ahead.
It has been a busy time for Teva. On Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration gave approval to Sandoz and Momenta to sell their generic version of Teva's flagship multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone, while Bloomberg reported that Teva was mulling a bid for Mylan. For its part, Mylan has made a bid for US-Israeli company Perrigo. Mylan responded to the report that it would not welcome a bid from Teva, which it said in any case would not be approved by the US authorities, and that it was committed to its bid for Perrigo.
On the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this morning, Teva's share price is up 2.19%, at NIS 256.5, while Perrigo is off 2.86%, at NIS 758.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 21, 2015
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