Market Currents

• Thursday, February 26, 2009

• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ALO, AMT, BYD, CLR, CVC, DLR, DYN, EME, EP, ESV, FAF, FRO, FTO, GLBL, GM, HRP, HUN, IRM, KG, LAMR, LINE, LKQX, LTD, NDAQ, NIHD, OCR, PCS, RAS, RDC, SHLD, SONS, SUG, SWY, WRC Comment!

• Monday, November 24, 2008

• 09:13 AM Alpharma (ALO) agrees to be bought by King Pharmaceuticals (KG) for $1.6B, more than three months after initially rejecting the bid as 'inadequate.' The deal is a 67% premium over Alpharma's closing price on Aug. 4. Premarket: ALO +7.2%. KG +1.5%. Comment!

• Wednesday, October 29, 2008

• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: AET, AG, AGN, ALO, ANR, BPO, BWA, CINF, CMCSA, GLW, GRMN, GW, HERO, HES, IMA, IVZ, JNY, K, KEM, KFT, LAZ, LM, MCO, MGM, MWV, NBL, NEM, NXY, NYB, OC, ODP, PG, PX, Q, SEE, SHPGY, SLAB, SNE, SPR, SPW, SU, TSO, VPHM, WEC, WPI Comment!

• Monday, October 13, 2008

• 09:17 AM King Pharmaceuticals (KG) presses on in its hostile bid for Alpharma (ALO), extending the deadline for the $37/share offer to Nov. 21 instead of Oct. 10. Alpharma rejected the bid last month as 'inadequate.' KG +5.6% pre-market. Comment!

• Thursday, September 11, 2008

• 09:30 AM King Pharmaceuticals (KG) ups its bid for Alpharma (ALO) to $1.6B, or $37/share. After Alpharma's rejection of an earlier $33/share offer, King is taking the offer directly to shareholders and warns it may launch a proxy battle if the bid is rejected. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 2, 2008

• 11:59 AM Alpharma (ALO) adopts a poison pill it hopes will protect it from King Pharmaceuticals' (KG) unwanted courtship. Comment!

• Monday, August 25, 2008

• 09:37 AM King Pharmaceuticals (KG) reveals that Alpharma (ALO) rejected a $1.43B takeover bid earlier this month. Still optimistic about a future deal, King's bid represented a 49% premium at the time of the offer. Pre-market shares: ALO +1.1%, KG -1.6%. Comment!

• Thursday, August 21, 2008

• 09:56 AM Medical insurers (AET, WLP, MHS) refuse to pay for Alpharma's (ALO) $5 pain patch - a runaway success with doctors. The equivalent pill costs just $0.38. ALO -3%. Comment!