DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (the “Company”) is a multinational, specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of branded, generic and branded generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter (“OTC”) products, and medical devices (contact lenses, intraocular lenses, ophthalmic surgical equipment, and aesthetics devices), which are marketed directly or indirectly in over 100 countries. Effective August 9, 2013, the Company continued from the federal jurisdiction of Canada to the Province of British Columbia, meaning that the Company became a company registered under the laws of the Province of British Columbia as if it had been incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia. As a result of this continuance, the legal domicile of the Company became the Province of British Columbia, the Canada Business Corporations Act ceased to apply to the Company and the Company became subject to the British Columbia Business Corporations Act (BCBCA). 

On August 5, 2013, the Company acquired Bausch & Lomb Holdings Incorporated (“B&L”), pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, as amended (the “Merger Agreement”) dated May 24, 2013, with B&L surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (“Valeant”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “B&L Acquisition”).

On December 11, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation (“Medicis”) through a wholly-owned subsidiary pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of September 2, 2012, with Medicis surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Medicis Acquisition”).

For further information regarding the B&L Acquisition and the Medicis Acquisition, see note 3 titled “BUSINESS COMBINATIONS”.