Mylan optimistic on Perrigo bid following ISS recommendation against deal

HERTFORDSHIRE, England and PITTSBURGH — Mylan announced Friday that it would continue to urge its shareholders to vote in favor of its proposed acquisition of Perrigo despite Institutional Shareholder Services’ recommendation against the deal in a recent report.

“While today's report from ISS repeatedly recognizes the clear industrial logic and solid business strategy of combining Mylan and Perrigo, it misunderstands and/or underestimates, without a meaningful basis, many other key aspects of the transaction,” Mylan’s executive chairman, Robert J. Coury, said. “In particular, ISS fails to comprehend the potential for medium and long-term value creation for Mylan shareholders, the compelling synergy opportunity, the potential for meaningful multiple expansion and the ability to take advantage of the continuing consolidation in our industry.”

A statement from Mylan also emphasized that two other proxy shareholder advisers have recommended shareholders to vote in favor of the acquisition at the company’s Aug. 28 shareholder meeting.

Perrigo has resisted the company’s offer since it was first announced in April, and Perrigo’s Joseph Papa, chairman, president and CEO, noted that the ISS’s recommendation “is consistent with our view that Mylan’s offer would be value destructive and that Perrigo and Mylan shareholders alike should not support this transaction.”

However, Mylan remains optimistic about the deal, though, in light of the other proxy recommendations and the fact that its largest shareholder, Abbott Laboratories’, support for the deal. The offer, if approved, will be tendered directly to the Perrigo shareholders.

“We have spent a great deal of time talking to our shareholders about this opportunity and remain extremely confident we will receive their support,” Coury said.