Botox maker Allergan, which is fighting a hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals, has named longtime executive Jim Hindman its new chief financial officer.

 

Hindman will replace Jeff Edwards, who has resigned in order to spend more time with his family, the drugmaker said Monday.

 

The new chief financial officer joined Allergan in 1984 and has served as a senior vice president since 2002. He also will serve as the company’s executive vice president for finance and business development.

 

Allergan Chairman and CEO David E.I. Pyott said in a statement from the company that Edwards told him back in February that he was thinking about stepping down later in the year.

 

Pyott also said he was confident that Hindman’s experience with company finances and his leadership record with Allergan will help him in the new role.

 

Allergan Inc., based in Irvine, California, has rejected several acquisition bids from Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and activist investor Bill Ackman, the latest valued at $53 billion. Earlier this month, two proxy advisory firms backed a campaign by Ackman’s investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management LP to persuade Allergan shareholders to call for a special shareholder meeting.

 

Allergan has termed the buyout offer “grossly inadequate.”

 

Shares of Allergan fell $2.13 to $156.13 in Monday afternoon trading, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose slightly. The stock was up 42 percent so far this year, as of Friday’s close.

 

Date: August 18, 2014

Source: Associated Press