Icahn stops Mylan bid for King

Carl Icahn, the Wall Street legend and a shareholder in Mylan Laboratories, yesterday succeeded in his campaign to get the company to abandon a $3.8bn (£2bn) takeover of King Pharmaceuticals.

The deal had been dogged nearly since the start, after King revealed it would have to restate several years of earnings, and Mr Icahn mounted a vigorous opposition.

The firms called off the deal on Sunday, blaming a failure to agree on terms. Mr Icahn has made his own bid for Mylan, worth $4.9bn.

But investors question prospects for both King, which could face competition on key products, and Mylan, which sought access to King's brand drugs and its sales force.

King said it was repositioning for growth despite the setback.