At the press conference which he and Pliva CEO Zeljko Covic held today, Bisaro said that Barr was planning potential investments in Pliva's plants in the coming five years, the intensification of development and research activities in the development of biological and generic drugs and the building of more plants for the production of biological drugs and the enhancement of the capacities for the production of raw materials.
According to him, Barr will invest into the development of Pliva's plants in Krakow, Poland, Brno, the Czech Republic and Goi, India.
Pliva's CEO Covic said that the recommendation of the company's management to shareholders that they should accept Barr's offer was a move to the benefit of share-holders, the company and a wider social community.
The value of 717 kuna per share (namely 705 kuna plus 12 kuna of dividend per share) represented a premium of 24 percent in relation to the first non-binding offer of the Icelandic company Actavis of 570 kuna per share, and 12 percent in comparison to Actavis's second non-binding offer of 630 kuna per share, Covic said.
Covic dismissed media reports that there had been another offer from the Icelandic company which Pliva's supervisory board had not addressed.
Actavis's formal offer was lower than Barr's, the entire process was conducted in a fair and transparent manner, and none of those involved have given any objections so far, Pliva's CEO told the press.
Asked what will happen if Actavis subsequently offers more than Barr, Covic responded that the Icelandic company had a chance to say what it was its last offer and it did so. Everything outside this framework would be an unfriendly take-over attempt, Covic added.
Earlier this week Pliva's Supervisory Board recommended to its shareholders to accept the US company's offer to purchase Pliva's entire issued capital at a price of 705 kuna per share, payable in cash in kuna. The 2.2 billion dollars that Barr is expected to pay for Pliva's shares is so far the biggest business transaction in Croatia and the biggest single US transaction in this part of Europe, Covic said on that occasion.
The offer is unconditional if Barr may acquire at least 50 percent plus one share in Pliva.
The acquisition will have to be okayed by the regulatory bodies in Croatia, Germany and the United States. The two companies expect the completion of that process in September. After that a public offer is to be announced at the Zagreb and New York Stock Exchange, and the acquisition should be completed in October.
Barr Pharmaceuticals has some 2,000 employees. Its main markets are the United States and Canada and its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to annual data, on 31 March 2006 the company's revenues amounted to USD1.24 billion.