Galen ISEQ exit to cost Barr €2bn

GALEN’S US-based takeover suitor Barr Laboratories will have to pay over €2 billion, as the Northern Irish pharmaceutical company becomes the latest company lining up to quit the Irish Stock Exchange.

Falling share prices have led to an exodus from the exchange, with more than a dozen companies including Smurfit, Eircom, Green Property and Riverdeep bought out, Sherry Fitzgerald on the way out the door, and Barlo management pushing for delisting. Even some Glanbia shareholders see sense in reverting to a co-op structure.

Galen took the stockbroking community by surprise with its one-paragraph statement early yesterday.