Swedish drug maker Meda rejects takeover offer from Mylan

Swedish drug maker Meda AB yesterday rejected a takeover offer from US rival Mylan Inc, a deal which could have created a global pharmaceutical company worth over $23 billion.

''The board hereby confirms that it has been contacted by Mylan, Inc regarding an indicative proposal to combine the two businesses. The board has convened and has decided to reject the proposal. All continued discussions between Meda and Mylan have been terminated without further actions,'' Meda said in a statement.

Mylan, which had recently said it would look for a big deal this year, said it was "considering a wide range of possible opportunities," indicating that the deal is far from being thrashed.

Meda, based in Solna, outside of Stockholm, is one of Europe's leading specialty pharma companies operating in over 55 countries with 2,900 employees and annual turnover of more than $2 billion.

Meda, whose largest shareholder is Stena Sessan Rederi AB, controlled by the Olsson family, with 23 per cent stake, specialises in cardiology, dermatology, respiratory, pain and inflammation, and gastroenterology.

It manufactures and markets specialty pharmaceuticals, branded generics, and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. The company also has a strong pipeline of products in the late clinical phase for its major therapy areas.

It has manufacturing facilities in Sweden, France, Germany and the US. Its products are sold through a net work of agents and direct sales organizations in more than 120 countries.

Its competitors are Shire Plc, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Synthetic Biologics, Orexo AB, BioPhausia AB, EpiCept Corp, and AnaMar Medical AB.

Last year media reports said that Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was in talks to buy Meda for around $5 billion. (See: Sun Pharma in discussion to acquire controlling stake in Meda AB)

This is not the first time Mylan is facing a rejection. Last year Actavis Inc, the largest US generic drug maker by market value, rejected an over $15-billion takeover bid from its smaller rival Mylan.

Pennsylvania-based Mylan, which last year acquired India's Strides Arcolab's Agila Specialties division for $1.75 billion, is one of the world's leading generics and specialty pharmaceutical companies.

It has a portfolio of more than 1,100 generic pharmaceuticals and several brand medications. It also offers a wide range of anti-retroviral therapies, and is one of the largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers and sells its products in approximately 150 countries.

The New York Exchange-listed company has a market cap of $18.8 billion and posted net profit of $624 million in 2013 on revenues of $6.9 billion.