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The leadership of Allergan ( AGN ) moved to reassure investors Wednesday of the company’s bright future after its huge buyout by Pfizer ( PFE ) was canceled in the wake of new tax regulations. Allergan stock was up 3.5% in afternoon trading, near 245. On a conference call with analysts Wednesday morning, CEO Brenton Saunders maintained that the Treasury Department’s action against tax inversions will have no impact on the stand-alone Allergan, which redomiciled to Ireland through an inversion deal with Warner Chilcott three years ago. The company will retain its 14% corporate tax rate, he said, and it should also be free to deploy capital however it chooses. Saunders also said Allergan’s $40 billion sale of its generic unit Actavis to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( TEVA ) is unaffected by the spiking of the Pfizer deal and is on track to close in June. The timeline for that buyout was delayed from its original Q1 closing date, as Teva works its way through a multi-country regulatory clearance process, but Saunders said the two companies are determined to get it done. “Teva is doing a lot of work,” said Saunders. “They’ve restructured their company; they have named their entire leadership through a few levels that include 200 Allergan executives moving to Teva. … This is a great deal for Allergan, but also a great deal for Teva.” Teva stock was up almost 3% in afternoon trading on the stock market today , near 56. The closing of the Actavis sale should also give Allergan a big wad of cash, so many of the analysts’ questions on the call related to what it will do with the money. Several seemed to be rooting for share buybacks, given that Allergan stock is trading near a 52-week low in the wake of the Pfizer breakup. Saunders said all options are on the table, but he emphasized that Allergan’s “growth pharma” model means that it’s constantly on the hunt for growth assets. He said that Allergan’s business-development team has stayed active since the Pfizer deal was announced, and if the right opportunity came along “we could announce it tomorrow.” A couple of analysts raised the name of contact-lens giant Bausch & Lomb, with which Saunders has a personal history. He headed the company from 2010 until 2013, when it was sold to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ( VRX ) for $8.7 billion. Given Valeant’s recent spectacular crackup , many on Wall Street have speculated that B&L might again go on sale, with Allergan a suitable buyer not only because of Saunders, but also because of Allergan’s large ophthalmology business. Saunders’ response to this seemed to be a swipe at Valeant’s infamously opaque financial reporting. “It sold for $8.7 billion four years ago, with a late-stage pipeline of 30-some programs, and a strong organic growth profile,” he said. “I can’t tell that any of those things today are still true. Based on public information, it’s impossible to tell that it’s worth more than it sold for four years ago.” Scalper1 News
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