The final outcome of the battle between Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International to buy Cephalon serves as a good illustration of why it helps to have a plan B.
In May, Teva beat out Valeant’s $5.7 billion offer to buy Frazier, Pa.-based Cephalon with a $6.8 billion offer of its own, acquiring Cephalon’s hefty pipeline in the process. And last month, Teva bought Taiyo Pharmaceutical Industry, Japan’s third-largest generics company, for $934 million.
