Valeant leads bids for Canadian OTC maker Afexa, topping Paladin offer
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Valeant Pharmaceuticals – which has been on a buying spree of sorts over the past few months – has taken the lead in the bidding war for the Canadian OTC maker Afexa Life Sciences, and said on 26 September that it will raise its offer for the firm to C$88 million ($85 million), in order to beat Paladin Labs' hostile bid. Afexa markets several "natural medicine" consumer brands including Cold-FX, the No 1 OTC cold and flu medicine in Canada, and Coldsore FX, which could fit nicely into Valeant's consumer franchise.