Horizon Pharma plc Responds to Depomed's Adoption of a Poison Pill

DUBLIN, IRELAND--(Marketwired - Jul 13, 2015) - Horizon Pharma plc (NASDAQ: HZNP), a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by identifying, developing, acquiring and commercializing differentiated and accessible medicines that address unmet medical needs, today responded to the announcement by Depomed, Inc. that it has implemented a poison pill (also known as a "shareholder rights plan") and amended and restated its bylaws in a shareholder unfriendly manner.

Timothy P. Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Horizon Pharma plc, said: "Since we made our proposal to acquire Depomed for a per-share consideration of $29.25 public on July 7, 2015, the reaction from both companies' shareholders has been supportive of the combination.

"We are very disappointed that instead of listening to its shareholders and immediately entering into negotiations with Horizon, the Depomed Board has instead taken actions to limit its shareholders' opportunity to maximize the value of their investment by implementing a poison pill and adopting changes to their bylaws that would, among other things, enable their Board of Directors to delay and make more difficult the calling of a special meeting of its shareholders," Walbert continued. "Horizon's proposal represents a premium of 42 percent to the closing price of Depomed's stock on July 6, 2015 and will yield significant strategic and financial benefits to shareholders of both companies. We urge the Depomed Board to stop taking actions to frustrate the will of their shareholders and engage with us to negotiate a mutually acceptable transaction."

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Jefferies LLC are acting as lead financial advisors to Horizon.

About Horizon Pharma plc
Horizon Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by identifying, developing, acquiring and commercializing differentiated and accessible medicines that address unmet medical needs. The Company markets seven medicines through its orphan, primary care and specialty business units. Horizon's global headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, please visit www.horizonpharma.com.