Warner Chilcott scraps sale plans; to pay $1 billion dividend

Ireland's specialty pharmaceuticals company Warner Chilcott Plc today said that it has scrapped plans to find a buyer for itself and instead pursue other alternatives to boost shareholder value.

Dublin-based Warner Chilcott, which makes women's healthcare, dermatology, gastroenterology and urology products, also announced plans to raise $600 million in debt, and with available cash, fund a special dividend of $4 per share, or about $1 billion in total.

It also announced an annual dividend of 50 cents to ordinary shareholders, payable in two equal installments.

The company also said that it had revised its share buyback programme, to allow it to redeem up to $250 million worth of shares apart from the $88 million already repurchased under the existing $250 million programme.
 
In April, Warner Chilcott had announced plans to explore strategic options, including a possible sale and had hired Goldman Sachs Group as its financial adviser.

It received buyout offers from three potential suitors, including both private equity and industry buyers, but their offers did not meet with its expectations of around $25 a share, Reuters reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Its stock closed at $17.77 on the Nasdaq yesterday.

With products that include well-known oral contraceptives Loestrin 24 FE, Femcon FE and Ovcon, Warner Chilcott was taken private in a $2.1 billion deal in 2005 by a consortium that included Thomas Lee Partners, Bain Capital, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Credit Suisse.