Iceland’s Actavis has posted a solid set of figures for the second quarter, the last time it will make such declarations as a public company following its takeover by investment company Novator.
Net profits decreased 2.6% to 29.3 million euros while revenues increased 4.1% to 378.9 million euros, which reflecting strong demand for its generic drugs in Europe. However sales in North America were down 13.5% to 96.3 million euros, though the fall was in line with management expectations.
The most significant event of the quarter of course was the acceptance of a new takeover bid from Novator, an investment firm which is led by its own chairman and billionaire Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson. Novator raised its offer to 1.075 euros a share from 0.98 euros, after the board of Actavis had spurned the initial bid, which means that shareholders will receive around 2.2 billion euros.
Novator will also refund Actavis’ loans, so the total worth of the deal is around 5.5 billion euros, the largest in Iceland’s history of business. The investment firm has secured 99.66% of Actavis A class shares in July and Actavis’ board has now requested to be removed from the OMX stock exchange in Iceland.
Chief executive Robert Wessman said that “the senior management team at Actavis looks forward, as a private company, to continue the company’s strong track record of growth”. He added that “with one of the strongest product pipelines in the industry and diverse geographic reach, we are confident that Actavis is well placed to continue to grow its share in the key European and US markets”.
