As expected, Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International raised the cash component of its offer for Botox manufacturer Allergan on May 28. Its new offer values the US firm at $49.44 billion.

The beefed-up bid includes a cash component of $58.30 per Allergan share, $10 more than Valeant's previous offer of $48.30. The stock component remains the same at 0.83 of a Valeant share for each Allergan share.

Altogether, Valeant's new offer values Allergan at $166.16 per share, based on the May 27 closing price. This was 8.6% more than the initial bid of $153 per share, or $47 billion, made on April 22 by Valeant and activist investor Bill Ackman.

Allergan spurned the first bid, saying the Canadian company had overstated the possible savings from the deal. Valeant's latest offer is less than the $180-$200 per share investors were said to be looking for.  

The new approach also includes a contingent value right of up to $25 per share related to the sales of Darpin, Allergan's experimental eye drug that is seen as a potential competitor to Bayer's Eylea, marketed in the US by Regeneron.

A day before Valeant's latest thrust, Allergan began building its case with investors for rejecting the offer. The company said it would sell some of its skincare treatments business, including facial fillers for treating wrinkles, to Nestle for $1.4 billion in cash.