(Reuters) - Canada's largest listed drug maker, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, is in talks to buy generic drugmaker Actavis Inc for more than $13 billion, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday night.
It is not clear how advanced the discussions are and a deal could still fall through, said the source, who declined to be identified because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
A Valeant spokeswoman declined to comment and an Actavis spokesman could not be reached for comment outside of business hours.
Valeant said in February it was in talks to make more acquisitions, and it remains open to discuss a potential "merger of equals."
Shares of Actavis, which has a market capitalization of $12.9 billion, have risen about 12 percent in the past three months.
Actavis, the third-largest global generic drugmaker, changed its name in January from Watson after buying Actavis as part of its strategy to expand in international markets and offer more specialty drugs.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks between the two companies on Friday.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, writing by Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drug-maker-valeant-talks-13-billion-actavis-buy-131359421.html
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