Ackman-Valeant Alliance Proved Unwieldy Unorthodox Partnership in Failed Bid for Allergan Showed Cracks Early On WSJ
Regardless of wether it played a role, the outcome itself was an epic fail. You don't get creativity points in business.
I wonder about that. Having Ackman on board gave Pearson the confidence to do an acquisition that was too big, too soon. If Pearson had waited two or three years, Valeant may have had better footing to make an offer appear more legitimate. Ackman and Pearson both brought their egos along with them on this escapade. They were occasionally not on the same page. Especially with talk about not overpaying/not bidding against themselves and then turning around and making unprompted increases in the bid or speculation about how high they would go. Pyott was able to leverage that and constantly say that the bid undervalued the company. Having not one but two personalities with credibility problems didn't help. Pearson saying that he would get synergies by gutting R&D for all but the good late stage projects and new claims. Then redefining engineering and quality as R&D to show how much he spends on R&D was pretty transparent. Of course Ackman claiming that he was only doing it to help the poor shareholders get their value because it reminded him of his family's humble beginnings *sniff* *sob*. It had nothing to do with his personal gain or stoking his ego in the limelight.
