Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Cephalon, Inc.
announced today that, as expected, each party has received a request for
additional information (commonly referred to as a “second request”)
from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in connection with Teva’s pending
acquisition of Cephalon. The parties have been cooperating with the FTC staff
since shortly after the announcement of the transaction and intend to continue
to cooperate with the FTC to obtain HSR clearance as promptly as possible.
The effect of the second request is to extend the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR) waiting period until
thirty days after the parties have substantially complied with the request, unless
that period is terminated sooner by the FTC. The companies continue to expect
that the transaction will be completed in the third quarter of 2011, following
completion of the HSR clearance process, the clearance by the European
Commission under the EC Merger Regulation, as well as the approval of Cephalon
stockholders.
