Teva in $7.4 billion Barr buy

Teva is buying Montvale, NJ-based Barr Pharmaceuticals for $7.4 billion and will take on debt of $1.5 billion.

The move gives the Jerusalem-based generics giant a host of generic drugs, branded contraceptives, including Seasonique and Plan B, and access to Eastern European markets. It comes at a time when generics’ share of the US market is surging. With the acquisition, Teva will have a quarter of the US market, said president and CEO Shlomo Yanai in an interview with Bloomberg.
 
Together, the companies employ around 37,000 in 60 countries and had nearly $12 billion in revenues in 2007.
 
Last year, generics accounted for 67% of total US dispensed prescriptions according to IMS Health.