Valeant says improved bid for Allergan will not be all-cash

Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc said it will not make an all-cash bid for drugmaker Allergan Inc as many had expected last week when the company said it would improve its cash and stock offer for the Botox maker.

Valeant on April 22 offered $48.30 in cash and 0.83 of one Valeant share for each Allergan share in a $47 billion unsolicited bid made along with activist investor William Ackman.

Allergan rejected the offer on May 12 citing the high stock component and steep cost cut proposals. Allergan also said that the offer was too risky due to uncertainty about Valeant's long-term growth and that Valeant's business model was unsustainable.

Valeant plans to announce its improved offer on May 28 when it holds a meeting for shareholders of both companies to respond to Allergan's assertions.

"To address recent speculation, we want to make clear that the improved offer will not be an all cash deal," Valeant said in a statement on Tuesday.

Allergan said on Tuesday its rejection of the offer was supported by patient advocacy groups and medical associations.

Laval, Quebec-based Valeant aims to become one of the world's top five drugmakers and has acquired about half a dozen companies in the last two years to fulfill that ambition.

It bought contact lens maker Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc for $8.7 billion last year, shortly after acquiring Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corp for $2.6 billion in 2012.

Allergan has not budged since rejecting Valeant's bid and Chief Executive David Pyott is urging shareholders to let the company stand alone.

Ackman, who controls a near 10 percent stake in Allergan as the head of Pershing Square Capital Management, has said Pyott had a "disabling" conflict of interest as a takeover would likely mean the loss of his job.

Allergan shares were up marginally at $160.9 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while Valeant shares rose 2.4 percent to C$140.92 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D'Souza)