Actavis to buy Forest Labs in $25 billion cash-and-stock drugmaker combination

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FILE - This photo provided by Actavis shows the company\'s logo. Actavis PLC plans to buy Forest Laboratories Inc. in an approximately 5 billion cash-and-stock combination that will create a drugmaker with a product portfolio that includes drugs like the Alzheimer\'s disease treatment Namenda. (AP Photo/Actavis, File)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Actavis PLC says it will acquire fellow drugmaker Forest Laboratories Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $25 billion.

The deal would create a combined company spanning both generic and branded drugs, including Forest’s Alzheimer’s treatment Namenda and the antidepressant Lexapro.

Actavis will pay Forest shareholders $26.04 in cash and a portion of an Actavis share for each Forest share. The total, per-share price of $89.48 represents a premium of about 25 per cent over Friday’s closing price.

Dublin-based Actavis has grown rapidly through acquisition, including an $8.5 billion deal last year to buy another Irish drugmaker, Warner Chilcott.

New York-based Forest Labs has been squeezed by generic competition to some of its biggest drugs, including Lexapro. It has been working to cut costs under new CEO Brenton L. Saunders.

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