Barr is likely to face competition for the capture of Pliva, eastern Europe’s biggest drug maker, as the entire generics industry heads towards greater consolidation.
After having an initial bid for the company rejected, Icelandic generics company Actavis made a 630 kuna per share bid for Pliva in April of this year. At the time that bid translated to a total of approximately $1.85 billion.
However, an Actavis spokesman quoted in Reuters indicated that due to the fall of the US dollar against the Croatian kuna that bid is now worth around $2 billion – only just shy of the latest offer from Barr. Actavis is now thought to be considering improving its offer for Pliva.
Pliva on the other-hand has so far refused to make any official comment on the new bid. According to Financial Times reports, Pliva favors the Barr bid because it “would leave the management team largely in place”.