High River Responds to Mylan's Announcement
12 Janeiro 2005 - 6:57PM
PR Newswire (US)
High River Responds to Mylan's Announcement NEW YORK, Jan. 12
/PRNewswire/ -- High River Limited Partnership announces that it is
sending the following letter to Mylan Laboratories, Inc.: High
River Limited Partnership 767 Fifth Avenue, 47th Floor New York,
New York 10153 January 12, 2005 Milan Puskar Chairman Of the Board
Mylan Laboratories, Inc. 1500 Corporate Drive Suite 400 Canonsburg,
Pennsylvania 15317-8574 Dear Mr. Puskar: In your December 22 letter
to me, you stated that "Mylan is a strong and proud company."
However, as Chairman of the Board, you have chosen Robert Coury as
a leader for Mylan. Mr. Coury: (i) stated to us in a meeting that
he is skeptical regarding the future growth potential of the
generic drug industry; (ii) has presided over a company whose
revenue and EBITDA in fiscal years 2002-2004 (2003 and 2004 being
the Coury years) grew at compound rates of 11.6 percent and 10.7
percent, respectively, as compared to 21 and 28 percent for its
largest competitors, according to a report prepared for us by AT
Kearny; (iii) does not, in our opinion, have enough experience
running a company like Mylan; and (iv) has been attempting to lead
Mylan into a transaction with King that we believe would be
disastrous and could fatally wound Mylan. We do not think these are
things to be proud of. In our view, watching Mr. Coury at Mylan has
been analogous to watching a military commander who dislikes war,
and with little combat experience, marching his troops toward a
cliff. We were not surprised to see in today's announcement by
Mylan that you do not expect to consummate the transaction with
King on the terms set forth in the existing Mylan/King agreement.
However, today's announcement does raise the specter of a new
transaction with King. We advise you once again that we do not
think King is a good acquisition candidate for Mylan on any terms
and that in no event should Mylan seek to engage in a revised
agreement that would attempt to avoid the vote of Mylan
shareholders. As the holder of nearly 10% of Mylan's stock, we will
continue to be active and vocal critics of Mylan if it may help to
remind board members of their fiduciary obligations in evaluating
the Mylan/King situation rather than blithely watching as the board
follows a path of folly that may lead to a transaction with King.
As we have told you before, we will hold the members of the Mylan
board, as well as its officers and advisors, personally accountable
for this entire regrettable situation, particularly if Mylan
attempts to proceed with a transaction with King without seeking
Mylan shareholder approval. We wish to impress upon you that our
actions, which you refer to as "confrontational" or "intimidation,"
are in our view merely the appropriate exercise of shareholder
rights. We believe that shareholders should be active and vocal
critics of board decisions that they think are wrong, and should
hold board members accountable for those decisions. Perhaps if
shareholders had been more vocal critics of the Enron or Worldcom
boards those egregious situations could have been avoided. We
continue to be willing to stand by our proposal to acquire Mylan
for $20 per share as previously made, without a "breakup fee",
which we believe would set up a bidding process for Mylan. In our
opinion, after all they have been through, Mylan shareholders
should be given the right to choose between our proposal and any
new transaction that Mylan may seek to negotiate with King. We look
forward to hearing from you in this regard. Very truly yours, High
River Limited Partnership SECURITY HOLDERS ARE ADVISED TO READ THE
PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO SOLICITATION OF
PROXIES BY MR. ICAHN AND HIS AFFILIATES FROM THE STOCKHOLDERS OF
MYLAN LABORATORIES INC. FOR USE AT ITS SPECIAL MEETING WHEN AND IF
THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION. WHEN COMPLETED, A DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND A
FORM OF PROXY WILL BE MAILED TO STOCKHOLDERS OF MYLAN LABORATORIES
INC. AND WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE AT THE SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION'S WEBSITE AT http://www.sec.gov/. INFORMATION
RELATING TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN A PROXY SOLICITATION IS CONTAINED
IN THE SCHEDULE 14A FILED BY MR. ICAHN AND HIS AFFILIATES WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON OCTOBER 14, 2004 WITH RESPECT
TO MYLAN LABORATORIES INC. THAT SCHEDULE 14A IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
AT NO CHARGE ON THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION'S WEBSITE.
DATASOURCE: High River Limited Partnership CONTACT: Yevgeny
Fundler, +1-212+702-4329, for High River Limited Partnership
Copyright