Skip to content

Perrigo Company plc

PRGO position short Craig Effron

Thesis

Perrigo's shareholders rejected Mylan's acquisition offer, which resulted in a significant loss for investors who were betting on the deal going through, highlighting the risks involved in merger arbitrage.

Did it work?

worked confidence: low

The short thesis hinged on Perrigo shareholders rejecting Mylan's acquisition offer, which would strip out the takeover premium and pressure the stock. That rejection did occur (Perrigo shareholders declined Mylan's tender offer in late 2015), and Perrigo shares fell sharply in the months afterward as the deal premium unwound, consistent with the short thesis. However, since no actual price performance data is provided, confidence in this judgement is limited.