After returning 40% last quarter, Forest (FRX, Financial) returned another 52% in the first quarter as the company agreed to be acquired by Actavis for both cash and stock. We believe the acquisition price was full and fair. While our investment thesis – that Forest’s new drug launches would be successful and leverage the company’s expenses – did not have the chance to transpire, we are more than pleased that the stock price reached our estimated value in short order. It’s not uncommon for the management of companies in transition to resist being acquired before their strategies to create value are fully realized. We applaud the leaders at Forest for their willingness to pull forward this value, even if it denied them the personal satisfaction of seeing their efforts realized in the coming years. We believe this could serve as a lesson for the leadership of other public companies. If someone wants to pay a fair price on a risk-adjusted basis for ‘what could be’ in your business, you owe it to your shareholders to realize this value so that they can recycle their capital into other attractively valued investments.
From Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio)'s Oakmark Select Fund first quarter 2014 investor letter.
