Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva plans to increase its bid for rival Mylan and could announce the move as soon as this week, according to a US media report Monday.
Teva Pharmaceutical, a big player in generic drugs, could boost its offer to Mylan by as much as $2 billion to $43 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The move would lift the price for Mylan from $82 a share to $86 or $88 a share, Bloomberg said.
Mylan, a US company that moved its headquarters to the Netherlands a year ago, had dismissed Teva's earlier bid in April as inadequate and said the merger could also prompt opposition from antitrust regulators.
Teva declined comment.
Teva's efforts to acquire Mylan, also a big generics manufacturer, comes as Mylan has launched an unsolicited takeover of its own for Perrigo, the maker of popular over-the-counter products such as Sudafed, Claritin and NyQuil. Perrigo rejected Mylan's initial offer and a second, higher offer.
Mylan shares rose 0.9 percent on Wall Street, while Teva advanced 0.2 percent. Perrigo rose 1.1 percent.
© 2015 AFP
