Sector News

Teva’s $40.5 billion deal for Allergan’s generics company is going to help Allergan pay down much of its dealmaking debt.

But in the meantime, the Israeli pharma needs some acquisition money of its own–and it’s reportedly planning to raise as much as $7 billion this year to help fund the transaction.

The generics giant will drum up the funds through a share sale, Bloomberg’s sources say. It’s rounded up four banks to underwrite the offering, which it may launch as soon as November. It may also choose to sell a smaller number of shares to keep from diluting its existing shares, and take on debt to round out the financing.

Teva and Allergan struck their accord back in July, with Teva agreeing to fork over cash and stock to maintain its place at the top of the generics market. The company arranged $33.75 billion in bridge financing with 10 banks, including a senior unsecured loan of as much as $27 billion and about $6.75 billion in equity bridge financing, the news service notes.

And Teva’s not alone, either. Pharma’s M&A wave has seen multiple companies issue sky-high amounts of debt to help fund their pickups. Allergan itself will be using the money it gets from Teva to pare down the debt from its formative $66 billion merger–Allergan plus Actavis–earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Teva and Allergan are expecting to close their deal in the first quarter of next year; in a bid for antitrust approval, Teva is considering selling off a portfolio of drugs in the Middle East that it acquired with Allergan’s other products, Bloomberg reports.

By Carly Helfand

Source: Fierce Pharma