Mylan: Calling all activists

Mylan Laboratories’ investors are cringing. The U. S. drug firm has agreed to buy the generic business of Merck KGaA of Germany for $6.7bn - about 50% more than its own market value. This is just two years after activist investors led by Carl Icahn forced it to abandon a potentially value-destroying $3.8bn bid for King Pharmaceuticals. Shareholders are just as unhappy with its Merck deal. They pushed Mylan’s stock down 12% on Monday. There’s little strategically wrong with the purchase. But Myl...