Actavis Changes Name to Allergan After Deal For Botox Maker

By Neil Haggerty 

Actavis PLC said Monday it has changed its name to Allergan PLC, three months after acquiring the maker of the antiwrinkle treatment Botox.

The company will change its stock symbol to "AGN" on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new Allergan said it has begun a world-wide rebranding campaign that will transition its facilities and operations to the new company name. The company's U.S. and Canadian generics business will continue to operate under the Actavis name because of the name's familiarity with customers, it said.

Actavis acquired Allergan in a deal valued at $70.5 billion, the biggest from 2014. The deal ended one of the year's more dramatic takeover battles in which Dublin-based Actavis beat out Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. for Allergan.

The combined Actavis and Allergan created one of the world's largest drug makers by sales, offering a range of eye, skin and stomach drugs. In May, Actavis said it expects revenue of up to $21 billion this year.

The company has a market cap of more than $117 billion, which is more than Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly & Co. and AbbVie Inc., according to FactSet.

Write to Neil Haggerty at [e-mail]

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