Business

Judge’s ruling a shot in the arm for Allergan takeover bid

Bill Ackman and his merger partner Valeant Pharmaceuticals won another court battle Wednesday in their litigious war with Botox maker Allergan.

A Delaware judge provided the courtroom conquest when he fast-tracked a trial regarding Allergan’s special shareholder meeting and bylaws that could hasten Valeant’s proposed $53 billion takeover of Allergan.

Judge Andre Bouchard set Oct. 6 for the trial and suggested the meeting could be pushed up to mid-November, from the Dec. 18 date Allergan set on Monday.

Ackman’s Pershing Square hedge fund, which is Allergan’s largest shareholder, with a 9.7 percent stake, is supporting Valeant on the hostile deal.

Ackman and Valeant sued Allergan last Friday to enforce the right to a special meeting after they’d sent the company requests from 31 percent of its shareholders.

At the meeting, shareholders will vote on whether to oust six of nine Allergan directors. If Ackman’s slate is elected, it is expected Allergan would consider the takeover offer — which it has so far rebuffed.

Allergan wants to delay the meeting in hopes of finding another merger partner, Ackman and Valeant allege.

The judge seemed to agree. “It’s pretty apparent to me … that Allergan may not want to have a special meeting at all,” he said.

Last week, a federal judge in California denied Allergan’s request to fast-track its lawsuit over allegations that Ackman and Valeant engaged in insider trading.