Mylan’s Second Bid for Swedish Drugmaker Meda Is Rejected

Mylan Inc., the biggest U.S. generic-drug maker, was rejected in a second bid to buy Meda AB (MEDAA), the Swedish producer of the Dymista allergy medicine. Meda stock fell the most in almost three years.

All contact between Meda and Mylan has been terminated, the Solna, Sweden-based company said in a statement today, without specifying financial details. The Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based suitor raised its offer to about 43.8 billion kronor ($6.7 billion) from an earlier, undisclosed figure, people with knowledge of the matter said last week.

“The board’s decision is based on a strong belief in the continued potential of Meda as a stand-alone company and the assumption that a transaction cannot be completed as it lacks sufficient support from Meda’s largest shareholder,” the drugmaker said.

Mylan’s attempt to buy Meda comes as the generic drug industry is undergoing a wave of consolidation, with the U.S. pharmaceutical maker and competitors buying up smaller companies as well as expanding into brand-name and injectable medicines. The deals have helped the companies expand their geographic reach as well as add more profitable products.

Meda fell 7.8 percent, the steepest drop since Aug. 2, to close at 118.50 kronor in Stockholm. That pared the shares’ gain this year to 45 percent, valuing the company at about 35.8 billion kronor.

Olsson Family

Mylan spokeswoman Nina Devlin wasn’t immediately available to comment on Meda’s statement.

Sweden’s billionaire Olsson family, which owns shipping, offshore-drilling, finance and property companies, holds a 23 percent stake in Meda through Stena Sessan Rederi AB, whose chief executive officer, Bert-Ake Eriksson, is the drug producer’s chairman. Meda had sales of $2.13 billion in 2013, two-thirds of which were in western Europe. Mylan generated $6.91 billion in revenue last year, with $1.97 billion coming from Europe.

Actavis Plc (ACT), a Dublin-based drugmaker with operations in New Jersey, agreed in February to buy Forest Laboratories Inc. for $25 billion. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. has been gobbling up drug and health-products companies as it seeks to grow into one of the world’s five biggest drugmakers.

Valeant teamed up on April 22 with Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, in a $45.7 billion bid to buy Allergan Inc., the maker of the Botox cosmetic treatment.

A quarter of Meda’s sales come from dermatology products, such as acne and skin cancer treatments, while another 17 percent come from respiratory products including an allergy inhaler, according to the company’s annual report.