(Bloomberg) -- Activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a new stake in Bausch Health Cos. and said he plans to push for changes at the company, including potentially seeking board seats.
The billionaire investor disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday he had accumulated a 7.83% stake in the health-care company, formerly known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Icahn said he believed its shares are undervalued, and planned to discuss with its board and management ways to enhance shareholder value, including through Bausch’s ongoing strategic review.
Shares in Bausch rose as much as 12% in late trading Thursday on the news. Its share closed Thursday at $30.11, 1.8%, giving the company a market value of $10.7 billion. Its shares have gained about 6.8% in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Last month, Bausch released preliminary fourth-quarter results, saying it expected revenue for the three-month period ended Dec. 31 to be more than $2.2 billion. It said it expected 2020 revenue to be higher than its previous guidance of $8 billion. It also said it expected to have generated more than $1 billion in cash for the year.
Icahn isn’t the first investor to agitate at Bausch. Activist investor Bill Ackman had a stake in the company when it was known as Valeant. The bet that turned bad, eventually losing the billionaire investor more than $4 billion after a series of scandals at the company.
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