November 14, 2014
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to celebrate renovations to its U.S. headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Representatives from the New Jersey Development Authority (EDA), New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and local political officials attended.
Laval, Quebec-based Valeant is a global drug company that focuses on dermatology, ophthalmology, neurology and branded generics. The company has been recently embroiled in a joint hostile takeover bid with New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management for Botox maker Allergan Inc. . The SEC is investigating Pershing for alleged insider trading over how it handled buying Allergan shares just prior to announcing the bid, resulting in a $1 billion profit.
Recent speculation has been that, if the Allergan deal falls through, Valeant might consider acquiring Zoetis Inc. . Pershing recently acquired 8.5 percent of the global animal health company’s stock, and Valeant has previously expressed an interested in moving into the animal pharmaceutical and health market. “Valeant may be getting a plan B ready,” said Tim Chiang, an analyst for CRT Capital Group in a phone interview with Bloomberg. “Zoetis would check off all of the boxes as far as what Valeant is looking for.”
Valeant is also known as a serial acquirer. In the last eight years the Canadian company has acquired over 100 companies. It’s typical business strategy is to then cut research and development costs in order to increase profits.
In its U.S. operations, Valeant previously was headquartered in a 150,000-square-foot building on Route 202-206 in New Jersey. The new headquarters is a 310,000-square-foot, eight-story building at 400 Somerset Corporate Boulevard, in a property that was previously occupied by Sanofi.
Currently Valeant employs 400 people at the new facility. It has announced plans to add 500 jobs at that location over the next five years.
“We are delighted to be finished with the rebuilding project at our U.S. headquarters,” said J. Michael Pearson, chair and CEO of Valeant in a statement. “New Jersey has been our U.S. home for over a decade now and we have found it to be an ideal business environment. There is a wealth of talented and experienced individuals here that have helped us grow over the years. We are committed to New Jersey and look forward to expanding our presence here.”
In addition to local talent for its U.S. business, Valeant was the recipient of a $39 million Grow NJ grant. Awarded by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, this will be parsed out to Valeant over 10 years.
