Mylan Inc (MYL: 11.47, +0.37 (+3.33%)) announced on Monday 9/08/08 their plans to retain their specialty business Dey Inc. instead of selling it in a bidding process they expected to end by December.  Last year Mylan bought Merck’s (MRK: 33.52, -0.82 (-2.39%)) generics division in October for $7 billion in cash.  Dey Inc, a specialty business focused on respiratory and allergy drugs was part of that deal.  In February of this year, Mylan announced they were planning to sell Dey because their big drug Perforomist was not reaching targeted sales figures.

During Mylan’s 1st quarter conference call, executives said the bidding process was proceeding as scheduled and they planned to have the business sold by the end of the year.  Some thought King Pharmaceuticals (KG: 11.25, +0.23 (+2.09%)) was in a position to buy the struggling Dey, but after King made a $1.4 billion bid for Alpharma that rumor was put to rest.  Mylan is also issuing $500 million in convertible notes to institutional investors due in 2015 which adds to the company’s already considerable debt of $4.9 billion.

In an article that came out after the market closed on Monday, Mylan Vice Chairman and CEO Robert J.