Valeant Closes $11 Bln. Acquisition Of Salix

(RTTNews) - Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX, VRX.TO) on Wednesday said it has closed its about $11 billion acquisition of gastrointestinal drug maker Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SLXP).

Valeant offered a sweetened $173 per Salix share, or about $11.1 billion, to clinch the merger. Including debt, the deal is valued at $15.8 billion.

Valeant expects the deal to be modestly accretive in 2015 and will be more than 20 percent accretive in 2016.

Salix offers gastroenterology treatments such as Xifaxan, Rucones, Apriso, among others.

Valeant's purchase of Salix comes after a failed bid last year to buy Botox maker Allergan Inc (AGN), which was acquired in November by Actavis plc (ACT) for $66 billion.