Allergan, Valeant, Pershing Square Settle Lawsuit

Allergan Inc. , Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and Pershing Square Management announced Thursday that the lawsuit filed by Allergan against the other two companies has been dropped. Allergan sued Valeant and Pershing Square over Pershing Square's purchase of Allergan stock just before Valeant made an unsuccessful bid for Allergan last year. Pershing Square chief William Ackman, who backed the merger, also was accused of insider trading. Allergan sought to prevent Pershing Square's shares from being voted in a shareholder vote on the Valeant takeover proposal. The vote never took place, though, because Allergan was bought by Actavis Plc . Shares of Actavis and Valeant were near the break-even point in recent action. Sources say there were no fees as part of the settlement.