Actavis denies crisis rumours
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Actavis, the Icelandic generics company, has refuted claims that it could be up for sale. Rumours highlighted in the Wall Street Journal began this month when the newspaper stated that the company could be sold for up to $6 billion after Thor Bjorgolfsson, who owns 80% of Actavis through his private equity firm Novator, reportedly lost a large proportion of his wealth when one of his largest investments, the bank Landsbanki Islands, collapsed and was taken over by the Icelandic government. Actavis, however, said that the financial crisis in Iceland does not affect its normal course of business. It added that its banking operations are with international banks and are not exposed to the current events in Iceland; it generates only 1% of its revenues within the country. The company expects to have a turnover of around €1.7 billion this year. Novator sold its 10.4% stake in the Finnish telecommunications company Elisa for €194 million to the Finnish government and mutual pension insurance company Varna earlier this month.