By Rod Nickel and Ransdell Pierson
(Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc on Monday prepared to take its $53.8 billion takeover bid for ALLERGAN (AGN.NY)Inc directly to the Botox maker's shareholders, and ally Pershing Square called for a meeting to turn over the target company's board.
Pershing Square Chief Executive Officer Bill Ackman, whose hedge fund owns 9.7 percent of Allergan, said in a conference call with Valeant CEO Mike Pearson that he had requested a special meeting that could take place as early as Aug. 7. Allergan could also delay the meeting, where Pershing intends to replace a majority or more of the company's directors, to as late as November, Ackman said.
Pearson said Valeant expected in two to three weeks to file an exchange offer, a means of taking the bid to Allergan shareholders, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also urged Allergan to negotiate with Valeant.
"We are very committed to getting this deal done," he said.
Allergan officials were not immediately available for comment.
Laval, Quebec-based Valeant said on Friday that it would pay $72 in cash and 0.83 share of its stock for each Allergan share, increasing its offer for the second time last week.
Ackman said that after speaking with Allergan shareholders, he was scrapping plans for a non-binding referendum as a means of pressuring the company to negotiate.
Shares of Allergan were up 2.1 percent at $171.01 in early New York Stock Exchange trading. Valeant gained 0.3 percent to C$142.77 in Toronto, but its U.S.-listed shares dipped slightly.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Rans Pierson in New York; Editing by Franklin Paul and Lisa Von Ahn)
