By Maria Armental 

Allergan PLC will pay $15 million in fines and admit to disclosure violations during a hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday.

The pharmaceutical company, best known as the maker of antiwrinkle treatment Botox, admitted it didn't disclose in a timely manner negotiations with potentially friendlier merger partners following Valeant's bid.

While the SEC order doesn't name the other companies, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that Allergan had approached Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. about a potential deal to fend off Valeant.

Ultimately, Actavis PLC bought Allergan Inc. in a deal valued at $70.5 billion, while Valeant ended up buying Salix in a roughly $10 billion deal.

Allergan said in a June 2014 regulatory filing the Valeant bid was inadequate and that it wasn't engaged in negotiations that could result in a merger. The company was required to amend the filing if a "material change" happened, but didn't. Instead, the SEC said, Allergan continued to negotiate behind the scenes.

The company, the SEC said, should have disclosed its discussions with Salix by at least Aug. 25, 2014, when Salix made a price counteroffer, and by Oct. 4, 2014, when it responded to Actavis' offer that it would have to bid more than $200 a share.

The combined company, one of the world's largest drugmakers by sales, changed its name to Allergan PLC last year.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 17, 2017 18:04 ET (23:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Valeant Pharma (NYSE:VRX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Valeant Pharma Charts.
Valeant Pharma (NYSE:VRX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Valeant Pharma Charts.