Sweden’s Media has rejected a second takeover offer from US generics major Mylan.
The board at Meda confirmed that it had been contacted by Mylan regarding “a revised non-binding indicative interest to combine the two businesses”. An initial offer, reported by the Financial Times to be worth 130 kronor per share, was rejected earlier this month and the second, reportedly upped to 145 kronor, would have been worth about $6.7 billion, according to Bloomberg.
However Meda is not impressed, saying that it has decided to reject the proposal, noting that “all contacts between Meda and Mylan have been terminated without further actions”. The board added that its decision is based on “a strong belief in the continued potential of Meda as a stand-alone company and the assumption that a transaction cannot be completed as it lacks sufficient support from Meda’s largest shareholder”.
That shareholder is the shipping giant Stena Sessan which holds a 23% stake in Meda and is itself owned by the Swedish billionaire Olsson family.
Meda, which markets specialty treatments, over-the-counter products and branded generics, is strong in the emerging markets and its hay fever treatment Dymista (azelastine and fluticasone) is selling well in the USA. High quality global journalism requires investment. Another attraction for Mylan was that an acquisition would have benefitted the firm in terms of lower taxes through relocating its headquarters out of the USA.
