Activis Shares Launguish Post-Forest Deal

Shares of Actavis plc ACT are down nearly 2.5 percent in the past month during which it closed a $25 billion acquisition of Forest Laboratories FRX.

But Citi's Liav Abraham reiterated a Buy rating on Actavis Friday with a price target of $250 citing the July 2 closing, even as the shares continued to trend down.

Abraham cited accelerated momentum from the companies' combined product portfolio, favorable drug pricing in the U.S. and continued expansion through smaller acquisitions.

The mega deal was announced in February and orchestrated by shareholder activist Carl Icahn, who pocketed a reported $1.7 billion in profits from his 11 percent stake in Forest.

Top executives of Actavis did nicely as well. The company will pay out as much as $186 million to a half-dozen Actavis managers if merger goals are fully met.

For example, its newly-named chief executive Brenton Saunders, 44, gets a guaranteed $15 million from the deal, rising to $68.5 million if goals are met.

Saunders also gets a base salary of $1 million, a driver, $110,000 air travel allowance for personal use and five weeks vacation to use it.

Actavis closed Friday at $217.45, down 0.56 percent.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorNewsM&AAnalyst RatingsCitiLiav Abraham
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