Judge Peter Kirwan of the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Clara has granted Depomed motion for preliminary injunctive relief against Horizon Pharma’s alleged use of information that Depomed claimed was confidential, which led to Horizon withdrawing the offer to acquire Depomed.
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According to Horizon’s Friday press release, in his ruling, Judge Kirwan did not grant the injunctive relief Horizon Pharma had sought regarding the legality of Depomed’s poison pill and certain of the bylaw amendments announced by Depomed’s board of directors onJuly 13, 2015.
“While we strongly disagree with the court’s ruling, we are withdrawing our offer to acquire Depomed,” said Timothy P. Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Horizon Pharma.
“Today’s ruling by the court does not affect our 2016 guidance or long-range plan or expectations. We have built a strong and diversified portfolio of medicines that we expect will exceed $750 million in net sales in 2015 and we expect will drive nearly $1 billion in net sales in 2016.”
“As we look to the future, we are committed to our strategy of complementing our strong organic growth, which has the potential to double our net sales to approximately $2 billion by 2020, with value enhancing acquisitions. While we are disappointed by the court’s ruling, Depomed was only one of many attractive acquisition opportunities we have been actively pursuing.”
Following Horizon’s decision to withdraw its acquisition proposal, Depomed issued a press release which reads:
“Depomed’s Board and management team are committed to enhancing long-term value and we look forward to continuing to execute on our strategy and delivering significant and sustainable returns for all our shareholders.”
“For example, the NUCYNTA franchise is, in our view, a transformational value driver for Depomed that will significantly increase Depomed’s EBITDA and cash flow in 2015 and beyond. Ultimately, we strongly believe we have successfully executed our acquisition and commercialization strategy, and Depomed has a bright future as an independent company.”
“We thank all of our shareholders for their input and support throughout this process. And importantly, we want to thank our employees for their relentless focus and dedication to the patients, families, physicians and other providers and payers we serve.”