Valeant Nearing Deal to Acquire Salix for $10 Billion

Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the drug maker based in Canada is closing in a deal to purchase Salix Pharmaceuticals the gastrointestinal drug maker for an estimated $10 billion. A deal, said those close to the situation, could be announced early Sunday.

Valeant is reportedly paying a cash price of $158 a share, just above the closing stock price for Salix on Friday of $157.85.

The purchase by Valeant of Salix marks a return to deal making for the Canadian pharmaceutical company, which failed last year in its bid to acquire Allergan the maker of Botox. Actavis a specialty pharmaceutical later acquired Allergan in November of 2014.

While Allergan was attempting to fend off Valeant’s hostile bid, it had returned to merger talks with Salix but could not reach a deal. Actavis was also considering making a bid Salix as well last year.

Valeant was in a spree of acquisitions until late 2013, when it completed its deal to acquire Bausch & Lomb the eye-care business.

In January of 2015, Valeant was the lead bidder for the Dendreon Corp assets. Dendreon was a developer of an advance prostate cancer drug and filed bankruptcy in November of 2014.

Salix Pharma, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, makes drugs that treat travelers’ diarrhea and ulcerative colitis. The company is closing in on the approval of a possible irritable bowel syndrome treatment.

In October of last year, Salix said it agreed mutually with Cosmo Pharmaceutical to terminate a merger agreement with the company based in Italy in a deal for tax-inversion and said it would have to make a payment of $25 million to Cosmo.

Salix also withdrew it financial guidance that had been previously issued for the fourth quarter and for its fiscal 2014 full year, citing a decision to accelerate its reduction of inventory levels for wholesalers.

The revision to the wholesale inventory for the company suggested a demand that would be lower than expected for its treatments.

That was followed by an announcement that Carolyn Logan the CEO of the company was retiring.