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Teva CEO: Proposal to purchase Mylan ‘strong and serious’

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The chief executive officer of Teva Pharmaceuticals said in a letter Monday to Mylan CEO Robert Coury that Teva’s offer to buy Mylan “is strong and serious and deserves careful review and engagement by your board and your stockholders.”

The letter from CEO Erez Vigodman was in response to Coury’s June 1 letter in which Coury stated Israel-based Teva was “playing games” with Mylan shareholders by promoting an “illusionary” buyout offer that has no chance of winning approval.

Teva proposed paying more than $40 billion for the generic drug manufacturer, which is operated from Southpointe but which reincorporated in the Netherlands earlier this year.

In his letter from last week, Coury noted a Mylan shareholders’ meeting will be held early in the third quarter to obtain shareholder approval for its proposed acquisition of Ireland-based Perrigo.

He accused Teva of “meddling in our affairs and improperly influencing the vote of Mylan shareholders by holding out an expression of interest, mischaracterizing its ability to execute on that interest, all while failing to commit to an actual offer and without providing meaningful and specific information in its strategic intentions and the consequences of a real offer were it to materialize.”

Coury, who noted Teva’s recent acquisition of Mylan shares was in excess of the $76.3 million threshold under U.S. antitrust rules, and added Mylan believes Teva’s share acquisition is in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

He said Teva’s stakebuilding was “a further indication of its intention to meddle with our business strategy and mission while remaining unclear as to its actual intentions.”

In his letter, Vigodman said Teva’s 2.2 percent stake in Mylan does not violate U.S. antitrust laws.

“We have conferred with the U.S. antitrust authorities and have been given no reason to believe that our purchase violates the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act or any other U.S. antitrust laws,” he said.

“In the meantime, we note that you have been saying you are a Dutch company when you believe it helps you create unprecedented governance structures, a U.K. company when it helps you lower your U.S. taxes and a U.S. company when you believe it helps you prevent Teva from purchasing Mylan shares.”

In response to Coury’s statement that Teva is “playing games” with Mylan shareholders, Vigodman wrote, “There is noting unclear or equivocal about Teva’s intentions. We have a clear roadmap to deliver on our proposal.”

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