Watson completes Actavis acquisition, will rebrand in 2013

Watson Pharmaceuticals has finalised its €4.3bn acquisition of Icelandic generics company Actavis and is planning a major rebrand of its global operations.

The deal will make the combined firm the third-largest generics company, after Teva and Novartis' Sandoz unit, with a presence in more than 60 markets and anticipated pro-forma 2012 revenues of over $8bn.

From 2013 the US firm Watson Pharmaceuticals will begin rebranding its global operations, adopting the Actavis name in order to present a unified brand to the market.

“When we announced the proposed acquisition of Actavis in April 2012, we immediately instituted an extensive and accelerated review of our global brand position and naming equities,” said Paul Bisaro, president and CEO of Watson. 

Bisaro explained that after Watson launched in 1984, the corporate name was not registered globally and later, during the global expansion strategy, which was initiated in 2009, the company felt they could not generate a unified market presence under the Watson brand. 

"With our expansion into more than 60 commercial markets around the world, we recognised the many benefits of uniting our company under one name to all stakeholders – customers, consumers, payers, institutions and shareholders and potential shareholders. 

The process saw Watson consider more than 2,000 potential new names, Bisaro said, before concluding that one of the assets his company gained from acquiring Actavis was a single name, trademarked and protected around the world.

Watson expect to be able to make annual cost savings in purchasing and raw materials of some $300m from the €4.3bn acquisition within three years and said the deal “substantially completes Watson's expansion as a leading global generics company”.

The firm will officially rollout its new identity in 2013, with a campaign that will involve facilities, operations and its commercial presences.