Drugmakers Mallinckrodt, Endo agree to merge in nearly $7 billion deal

Mallinckrodt and Endo, drugmakers with a shared history of facing bankruptcy and US opioid litigation, have agreed to merge in a deal valued at nearly $7 billion. 

Endo shareholders will get $80 million in cash and own 49.9 per cent of the combined company, while Mallinckrodt shareholders will own the rest for an enterprise value of $6.7 billion, the companies said on Thursday. 

The combined company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and sell branded drugs such as Mallinckrodt's Acthar gel and kidney disease therapy Terlivaz as well as Endo's testosterone injection Aveed. 

The drugmakers also plan to combine their generic pharmaceuticals businesses and Endo's sterile injectables business after the close of the deal. They intend to separate that business from the combined company at a later date. 

 

Endo will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mallinckrodt, with Mallinckrodt CEO Siggi Olafsson serving as CEO of the combined company after the deal's expected close in the second half of 2025. 

Both companies have in recent years emerged from bankruptcies and lawsuits related to their alleged role in the US opioid epidemic. 

Dublin-based Mallinckrodt went bankrupt twice - once in 2020 due to its high debt load and litigation over its allegedly deceptive marketing of highly addictive generic opioids; and again in 2023 due to declining sales of its key branded drugs, including Acthar Gel. 

As part of its second restructuring, Mallinckrodt was able to trim $1 billion from its previously agreed upon opioid settlement that resolved about 3,000 lawsuits. 

Endo filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and completed its financial restructuring last year.     

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