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Can John Paulson Revive Valeant? -- Barron's Blog
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 10:00 AM ET 6/19/2017
Symbol Last Price Change
VRX 13.21 +0.55 (+4.34%)
AGN 237.035down +1.545 (+0.66%)
QUOTES AS OF 10:00:36 AM ET 06/19/2017
If at first you don't succeed, join the board.

John Paulson of Paulson & Co. lost nearly $2 billion on a bad Valeant Pharmaceuticals(VRX) bet, but he's not throwing in the towel just yet. Instead, the activist investor and hedge fund manager joined the drugmaker's board of directors.

Valeant shares rose more than 4% in pre-market trading to $13.19 on the news. Chairman and CEO Joseph Papa said of Paulson in a press release, "With his significant business and financial expertise, John will be a strong addition to the board. His experience will be especially valuable as we continue to execute on our transformational strategy to turn around Valeant."

Some analysts see potential as the company cleans up its act. Last week, Cantor Fitzgerald's Louise Chen and Brandon Folkes put an Outperform rating on Valeant arguing that it's time to stop looking in the rearview mirror.

Paulson & Co's biggest holdings include healthcare stocks Allergan(AGN) , Shire ( SHPG), Mylan ( MYL) and Teva Pharmaceuticals ( TEVA), according to its latest 13F filing showing March-end quarterly holdings. The firm trimmed its positions in all of those stocks in the first quarter.

Paulson rose to fame with his successful bet against the housing market in 2007, but he has been struggling post- crisis. The hedge fund manager appears to be tying his comeback story to Valeant's. Whether one is coming remains to be seen.

More at Barron's Focus on Funds blog, http://www.barrons.com/focus-on-funds


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06-19-171000ET
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