Pliva said in a statement that Actavis's offer of 570 kuna per share was "unattractive for the shareholders and the employees alike." "The purpose of consolidation is for a company to come out stronger, and at the moment we do not see that Pliva would be made stronger by it," it said.
The company said that some of its production would be transferred from Dresden, Germany, and the United States to Zagreb and that a greater volume of production was expected in Zagreb in the second half of the year, which would lead to an increase in the number of employees in production.
Pliva's managers insist that "Actavis is a highly indebted company because of a large number of acquisitions over the last couple of years, so it is to be expected that Pliva would have carried the burden of Actavis's debt as a result of the merger."
Actavis's plans to transfer production to Croatia were described as unrealistic in view of complex procedures that would have involved regulatory bodies of Croatia and other countries.
Although in majority foreign ownership, Pliva is a Croatian company, with its headquarters in Zagreb and with a management that is autonomous in decision making, the company said.