Exasperated Allergan investors recruiting activists to push for asset sales
fiercepharma | April 27, 2018
Investors aren’t happy with the steps Allergan has taken to try to remedy its share-price slump—and they’re calling on outsiders to help stir things up.Top shareholders of the Dublin drugmaker are scouting for activist investors to pressure Allergan into making some changes, sources tell Business Insider, and they just might be succeeding. Sarissa Capital, led by frequent pharma meddler and Carl Icahn protégé Alex Denner, Ph.D., has taken a stake in the company, Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan, M.D., wrote to clients late Thursday, and though it’s a small one, it’s “interesting,” Divan said especially in light of the fact that Sarissa has nabbed a piece of Ironwood, Allergan’s partner on GI med Linzess.“Tracking the activism of Dr. Denner, we found that in 15 cases of shareholder activism since 2006, each one resulted in either a change in management, a sale of the company, or both,” Divan wrote.