
|
·
|
It
is absurdly low
|
|
|
·
|
It
is unfair
|
|
|
·
|
It
is financially inadequate
|
|
|
·
|
It
is unilateral
|
|
|
·
|
It
is coercive
|
|
|
·
|
It
is illegal
|
|
|
·
|
It
is not the best we can do
|
|
|
·
|
It
is a "sham" offer because we believe Sun knows that it will not be
accepted by the shareholders
|

|
·
|
It
is absurdly low: Sun's $7.75 tender price is
substantially below the current market price of Taro's shares, and even
further below Sun's proposed increased merger price of
$10.25;
|
|
|
·
|
It
is unfair: Sun's tender price is far below the prices
Sun recently paid to purchase Taro shares from large minority shareholders
in privately negotiated transactions;
|
|
|
·
|
It
is financially inadequate: Before we acted to terminate
the merger agreement, we determined that, based on a number of factors,
including Taro’s operational and financial turnaround, the future value
that Taro expects to achieve from the changes made in its business model,
the value in Taro’s new product pipeline and the advice received from
Taro’s financial advisor, Merrill Lynch based on Taro’s most recent
projections at the time, Sun's proposed $10.25 increased price was
inadequate from a financial point of
view;
|
|
·
|
It
is unilateral: Before we acted to terminate the merger
agreement, Sun repeatedly rebuffed our attempts to engage in meaningful
price negotiations with us or our financial advisors;
|
||
|
·
|
It
is coercive in at least three respects:
|
||
|
·
|
First,
Sun's proposal to increase the merger price to $10.25 was conditioned on
our agreeing to eliminate certain additional voting requirements that
protect minority shareholders, and that our Israeli counsel advised us
were required by Israeli law in order to approve the
merger;
|
||
|
·
|
Second,
Sun's offer is designed to stampede shareholders into tendering their
shares, at a price below the current market price, so that they won't end
up as minority shareholders in a Sun-controlled company, by not providing
for a second-step transaction at a fair price in which Sun would acquire
any shares not tendered and purchased in the tender offer;
and
|
||
|
·
|
Third,
Sun admits that its offer is being made at $7.75 in order to force the
Levitt and Moros families to sell their shares at this now unfair and
“low-ball” price pursuant to an option agreement those families entered
into with Sun at the time the merger agreement was signed over a year ago.
This is nothing more than a blatant attempt to gain control of Taro
without paying a fair price to the shareholders;
|
||
|
·
|
It
is illegal: The Company has been advised by its Israeli
counsel that Sun's offer is required to, but does not, comply with the
"special tender offer" rules under Israeli law that provide important
protections to minority shareholders and that, therefore, Sun's offer is
illegal. We have also been advised by our Israeli counsel that
the "trust" described in Sun's offer to purchase will NOT
remedy the illegality of Sun’s offer;
|
||
|
·
|
It
is not the best we can do: Since we acted to terminate
the merger agreement, the Company and its advisors have had preliminary
discussions with, and received expressions of interest from, other parties
potentially interested in entering into strategic transactions with the
Company, including purchasing the entire Company or making an investment
in the Company. While there can be no assurance that any of
these discussions will result in a formal proposal or that if a formal
proposal is made that it will be pursued and consummated, at least two
potentially interested purchasers have expressed interest at a price level
in excess of the highest price Sun has ever indicated a willingness to
pay. Understandably, these expressions of interest were
and are subject to due diligence and other conditions. We are
not opposed to a sale of the Company, but, given the dramatic turnaround
in our performance over the last year,
we believe that superior and fair values are attainable. We
will prudently consider all alternatives with a view towards acting in the
best interests of all shareholders;
and
|
||
|
·
|
It
is a "sham" offer because we believe Sun knows that it will not be
accepted by the shareholders: Sun's objective is very
clear to us. They are unwilling to acquire the Company at a
fair price through good faith negotiations with the Board and the
Company's management. In order to gain control of Taro without
paying a fair price to the shareholders, Sun is now making a “low-ball”
offer that we believe it knows will not succeed, solely for the purpose of
exercising certain options pursuant to an option agreement the Levitt and
Moros families entered into with Sun at the time the merger agreement was
signed over a year ago.
|
|
Sincerely,
|
||
![]() |
||
|
Barrie
Levitt, M.D.
|
||
|
Chairman
of the Board
|