Actavis just bought Forest

Actavis in Talks to Buy Forest Labs for as Much as $25 Billion
http://on.wsj.com/1gYrT2c

Now what happens to us?

 

We are all f'ed.

 

Yep its a big mess.....too many duplicate positions. Actavis is a nightmare......they will own forest who will in turn own us....look for a job, quick.

 

How everything really went down...
This is how Actavis handled the situation.

-For months repeatedly tell all WC reps and managers that many of them will be needed and kept due to the large combined product portfolio and strong pipeline only to inform all 700 of them on a 4 minute conference call they were not retained.
-Make every rep and manager interview for jobs with unknown products and territories if they wanted to be eligible for severances all while knowing they had no intentions of keeping one single person.
-Discourage WC reps from finding new jobs by providing false hope they would be kept and threatening their bonus, severance and stock options if they take another job before Feb.1
-Force WC reps and managers to be stuck with no job over the holidays because they are held hostage until February in order to receive their severance and stock options.
-Force all WC reps and managers to either have no transportation for December and January because they cant take another job until February.

I get that this is a business and reps are just numbers in the grand scheme of things, but it didn't have to be handled this way.

 

Sound familiar?

 

Well this shod be a fun ride. Sad to see so many changes happen so quickly. Aptalis folks are moron the bottom of the totem pole at this point. It will be a miracle if more than 10% of Aptalis employees make it through to Actavis.

 

I think you have an extraneous leading digit in your percentage of how many Aptalis will make it to Actavis.

 

Step 1. Make it through the Forest Integration. Remember, they don't have a pure, dedicated specialty force. Salix just bought Santarus, a lot of duplication and replication. They created four separate divisions and kept a lot of people.
Step 2. Make it through Actavis Integration. They need reps from more specialty reps Aptalis and internal med from Forest.
Step 3. You're experienced specialty reps with 6 products calling on surgeons, GI, oncology, adult and ped pulminology and some internists.

You're specialty reps, a highly desired asset in pharma. Hopefully that continues to hold true. Before the glass if half empty, savor the drink and enjoy a glass that may be half full.

 

Sounds great on paper. Truth is you don't need specialty reps to sell enzymes, Pylera, linzmess, so forget it. You can train anyone to do that. You might still be ok....Forest has a bunch of primary care drugs that need to be sold so lucky for you you could all be kept b/c of sheer need. Make no mistake, Salix is not Actavis, don't compare those two, Actavis is a clearing house for idiots.

 

Worst advice ever. Do not bank on making it through this clusterf@ck of deals. Brush up your résumé, apply for new jobs, interview all on company time. Think about yourself and your family. There is no loyalty in acquisitions. The only people who benefit are at the top. Aptalis is a small, insignificant piece of this huge deal. Get your severance and get out. You will probably end up better off than before.

 

Pretty darn clear to me that BS doesn't care about people. He is there is change a sinking ship and only cares about the bottom line and profits. Everything else is a commodity.

 

Sorry to say Forest specialty reps being trained on all appalls meds next month. Launch in Dallas in April.