Biovail Merger Information
To Our Shareholders;
I am pleased to share the exciting news that on September 27, 2010, the stockholders of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and Biovail Corporation overwhelming voted in favor of combining the two companies to become one under the Valeant name. Valeant stockholders received a one-time special dividend of $16.77 per share and 1.7809 shares of Biovail common stock in exchange for each share of Valeant common stock they owned, while Biovail shareholders continue to own their existing common shares. The new combined company has also completed a name change to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. and our shares now trade on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "VRX".
Our respective companies each had a diverse product portfolio and pipeline, with a demonstrated ability to unlock hidden value in overlooked assets. Our complementary efforts will expand our already strong franchises, and together, we have a product pipeline with greater depth and scope and more efficient commercialization pathways through which to bring products to market. By harnessing the strengths of both companies, we are well-positioned to further deliver on our shared goal of developing innovative solutions that provide meaningful benefits to patients with special medical needs to help improve their quality of life.
Our vision for Valeant is to become the leading specialty pharmaceutical company in the world. We will measure our success through our returns to our shareholders and our overall market capitalization. We will have a balanced and diversified portfolio of businesses: in terms of types of products - branded pharmaceuticals, over the counter medications, branded generics, and unbranded generics; therapeutic areas - dermatology, neurology, and ophthalmology; and geographies - U.S., Canada, Central Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. We will measure ourselves in terms of overall growth, organic growth, cash earnings, and cash flow from operations. Our portfolio will evolve, and over time, I would expect us to both enter and exit geographies, therapeutic areas, and potentially even product forms. We will continue to seek out high growth, high profit markets where we can bring a unique competitive advantage, and exit markets where growth and profitability is no longer attractive.
In the end, our primary mission as an organization is to serve the patients and consumers who use our products, the physicians who prescribe / recommend them and the customers who provide retail outlets for these products. Healthcare companies are held by society to the highest possible ethical standard - and they should be. Adhering to this extremely high ethical bar supersedes any financial or other objective.
Finally, the new Valeant, with the approval of our new Board of Directors, paid a one-time $1.00 per share dividend to all stockholders of the combined entity on December 22, 2010.
We want to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support and we look forward to sharing our progress with you in the months and years to come.
Sincerely,
J. Michael Pearson
Chief Executive Officer
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.
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