Bloomberg: Actavis Plans To Cut Jobs, Expand In China

(RTTNews) - Generic drugmaker Actavis plc (ACT), which earlier in November agreed to acquire Botox maker Allergan Inc. (AGN) for $66 billion, plans to cut its workforce and expand in China, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing Actavis Chief Executive Officer Brent Saunders.

According to the Bloomberg report, Saunders said in an interview on Bloomberg Television that the were overlaps in corporate functions, including human relations and finance. However, Saunders did not quantify the number of jobs that will be eliminated.

On November 17, Actavis said it agreed to acquire Allergan in a cash and stock deal valued at about $219 per share, or $66 billion. The deal enabled Allergan to fend off a hostile takeover bid from Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VRX.TO, VRX), which was supported in its bid by activist investor William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP.

The deal, unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2015.

Dublin, Ireland-based generic drug maker Actavis had obtained an Irish tax domicile by acquiring Warner Chilcott Plc in a so called tax inversion deal last year.

ACT closed Monday's trading at $266.88, up $7.13 or 2.74 percent on a volume of 4.19 million shares. In after-hours, the stock gained $0.20 or 0.07 percent to $267.08.