Activist investor William Ackman is supporting the $66 billion deal in which Actavis PLC will buy Allergan Inc. and plans to withdraw from an Allergan special shareholder meeting he had planned, CNBC television reported on Tuesday.
Ackman, who had been fighting alongside Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. for control of Allergan, had called for the Allergan meeting to vote out board members and force the company to the table to consider their joint offer.
The meeting is scheduled for Dec. 18, but the move means that there is no longer a need for it, CNBC said.
Ackman's comments come after Actavis said on Monday it would pay $219 per share for Allergan, billions more than Valeant was willing to pay. Ackman, who owns nearly 10 percent of Allergan, had paper gains of more than $2.3 billion based on that price.
CNBC reported that Ackman will meet with executives from Actavis later this week.
Pershing Square did not respond to a request for comment.