Two long-pending deals made significant progress today.
The Federal Trade Commission approved the pending $7.4 billion acquisition of generic drug maker IVAX Corp. by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., with one condition.
The merged company must divest 15 drug lines to Par Pharmaceutical Cos. and Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Woodcliff Lake , N.J. The merger, which gained regulatory approval in other countries, is set to close Thursday.
Two of the drugs set for divesture are amoxicillin – two forms of penicillin. General amoxicillin, one slated to be shed, is only made in a specific form by three companies – Jerusalem-based Teva and Miami-based IVAX being two of them. The pair first began talks of joining forces in July.
In other merger news, Midwest grocery group Albertson’s Inc. was finally sold to a consortium of investors Monday, who agreed to pay $17.4 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt. After talks crumbled between Albertson’s and its suitors: Supervalu Inc., Cerberus Capital Management LP, Kimco Realty Corp. and CVS Corp., in December, the group returned to the negotiating table last week and agreed today on the sale.
The four will break up the No. 2 grocer into three parts: its existing grocers in key U.S. markets, which will go to Supervalu; its drugstores, which will go to CVS and its remaining stores in non-key markets, which will go to Cerberus and Kimco. Albertson’s first went on the block in September and has seen waves of interest rise and fall among potential suitors. — Carolyn Murphy
Teva to buy Ivax for $7.4B
Supervalu wins Albertson's
Today's Deals
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