Dissident Shareholder Heartland Trims Stake in ICN

Heartland Advisors Inc., which has pushed for a new chief executive at ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., cut its stake in the Costa Mesa drug maker to 4.1% from 5.1%, according to a document filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The dissident shareholder, which was ICN’s largest investor earlier this year with a 5.2% stake, now owns beneficially more than 3.2 million shares.

Heartland said in its SEC document that it purchased 52,450 shares between July 19 and Dec. 12 at prices ranging from $24.94 to $27.13 a share. It also sold 657,395 shares between Aug. 3 and Dec. 19 for $26.94 to $37.30 a share.

The Milwaukee asset manager, headed by William J. Nasgovitz and Paul Beste, tried to persuade shareholders to impose a mandatory retirement age of 70 on board members, which would have forced controversial ICN founder Milan Panic, 70, to retire as chairman and chief executive.

ICN has announced a plan to break up the company into three publicly traded operations. Its biotechnology business, Ribapharm, would own the rights to ribavirin, the company’s top-selling hepatitis C drug.

Last week, Roche Holding AG, Europe’s fifth-biggest drug maker, agreed to swap a stake in ICN for 8.7% of Ribapharm. The transaction also gives Roche potential access to a new, early-stage version of ribavirin that may become ICN’s next big seller.

Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland, owns 3.97 million ICN shares.

ICN stock rose 81 cents Wednesday to close at $30.31 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. The value of the stock has risen nearly 20% this year.