Valeant Slashes Stake in Allergan After Losing Bid

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has cut its stake in US drugmaker Allergan to 0.1%, making the sale three days after Actavis trumped its offer for the Botox maker.

In a regulatory filing. Pershing Square Capital Management, the investment vehicle of activist shareholder Bill Ackman, informed Valeant that PS Fund 1 had sold all of its 2.2 million shares in Allergan allocated to Valeant USA.

Valeant said PS Fund 1 is a shell fund Pershing Square set up with Valeant to act as a joint acquisition vehicle. Together the two parties had held a 9.7% stake in Allergan.

Ireland-based drugmaker Actavis offered $219 per share in cash and stock for a total acquisition price of $66 billion, topping the last Pershing Square-Valeant bid by as much as $12 billion.