AbbVie Says $46.5 Billion Offer for Shire Rejected as Talks End
2014-06-20 05:26:38.523 GMT
By Drew Armstrong and Michelle Fay Cortez
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- AbbVie Inc., the drugmaker split
last year from Abbott Laboratories, said three escalating offers
to buy Shire Plc for as much as 27.3 billion pounds ($46.5
billion) were rejected by the Dublin-based company.
Shire’s board has so far turned down the proposals that
began in May and no talks are occurring, AbbVie said late
yesterday in a statement. The cash-and-stock offer would allow
AbbVie to diversify its portfolio beyond its top drug, the
arthritis medicine Humira, which generated 57 percent of its
2013 sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
AbbVie “made an indicative approach to Shire with a merger
proposal which was rejected by the board of Shire,” the North
Chicago, Illinois-based company said in the statement. “There
can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made.
Discussions are no longer ongoing.”
The announcement of AbbVie’s bid for Shire is the latest
attempted merger in a period of increased acquisition activity
in the drug and medical device industry. Not including the
AbbVie offer, there were deals proposed or completed worth
$260 billion in the second quarter, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg, five times more than any quarter since at least
2009. Pfizer Inc.’s $117 billion rebuffed bid for AstraZeneca
Plc was the largest proposed deal in drug industry history.
AbbVie’s first cash-and-stock offer to Shire was 39.50
pounds a share, and its latest bid increased to 46.26 pounds a
share, AbbVie said in the statement. Shire closed at 37.38
pounds yesterday in London, valuing the company at more than 22
billion pounds.
Takeover Rules
The deal falls under U.K. takeover rules, which forced
AbbVie to disclose its proposal. The drugmaker will have until
July 18 to make a firm offer, or will go into a waiting period
where it can’t do so for as long as six months.
Adelle Infante, an AbbVie spokeswomen, declined to comment
on the details or timing of the offer. Jessica Mann, a
spokeswoman for Shire, didn’t return an e-mail requesting
comment. The news was reported yesterday by Reuters.
Shire’s biggest products are medicines to treat attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, including Vyvanse and Adderall.
It has other drugs to treat rare diseases and neurological
disorders.
AbbVie was identified earlier this year as a potential
merger partner for AstraZeneca when the London-based drugmaker
was defending the unsolicited bid from Pfizer.
Shire’s shares rose earlier this week when John Boris, an
analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in New York, said the
Dublin drugmaker would be a target of Allergan Inc., the maker
of the wrinkle treatment Botox that is fighting a hostile
takeover bid of $45.7 billion from Valeant Pharmaceuticals
International Inc.
For Related News and Information:
Pharma Plan in Deal Frenzy Is to Be Best, First or Move On
NSN N4I3796K50XS<GO>
Top stories: TOP <GO>
Today’s most popular health-care stories:MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
Bloomberg Industries reports: BI PHRM <GO>
To contact the reporters on this story:
Drew Armstrong in New York at +1-212-617-8933 or
darmstrong17@bloomberg.net;
Michelle Fay Cortez in Minneapolis at +1-612-991-8887 or
mcortez@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reg Gale at +1-212-617-2563 or
rgale5@bloomberg.net
Andrew Pollack, Russell Ward
2014-06-20 05:26:38.523 GMT
By Drew Armstrong and Michelle Fay Cortez
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- AbbVie Inc., the drugmaker split
last year from Abbott Laboratories, said three escalating offers
to buy Shire Plc for as much as 27.3 billion pounds ($46.5
billion) were rejected by the Dublin-based company.
Shire’s board has so far turned down the proposals that
began in May and no talks are occurring, AbbVie said late
yesterday in a statement. The cash-and-stock offer would allow
AbbVie to diversify its portfolio beyond its top drug, the
arthritis medicine Humira, which generated 57 percent of its
2013 sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
AbbVie “made an indicative approach to Shire with a merger
proposal which was rejected by the board of Shire,” the North
Chicago, Illinois-based company said in the statement. “There
can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made.
Discussions are no longer ongoing.”
The announcement of AbbVie’s bid for Shire is the latest
attempted merger in a period of increased acquisition activity
in the drug and medical device industry. Not including the
AbbVie offer, there were deals proposed or completed worth
$260 billion in the second quarter, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg, five times more than any quarter since at least
2009. Pfizer Inc.’s $117 billion rebuffed bid for AstraZeneca
Plc was the largest proposed deal in drug industry history.
AbbVie’s first cash-and-stock offer to Shire was 39.50
pounds a share, and its latest bid increased to 46.26 pounds a
share, AbbVie said in the statement. Shire closed at 37.38
pounds yesterday in London, valuing the company at more than 22
billion pounds.
Takeover Rules
The deal falls under U.K. takeover rules, which forced
AbbVie to disclose its proposal. The drugmaker will have until
July 18 to make a firm offer, or will go into a waiting period
where it can’t do so for as long as six months.
Adelle Infante, an AbbVie spokeswomen, declined to comment
on the details or timing of the offer. Jessica Mann, a
spokeswoman for Shire, didn’t return an e-mail requesting
comment. The news was reported yesterday by Reuters.
Shire’s biggest products are medicines to treat attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, including Vyvanse and Adderall.
It has other drugs to treat rare diseases and neurological
disorders.
AbbVie was identified earlier this year as a potential
merger partner for AstraZeneca when the London-based drugmaker
was defending the unsolicited bid from Pfizer.
Shire’s shares rose earlier this week when John Boris, an
analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in New York, said the
Dublin drugmaker would be a target of Allergan Inc., the maker
of the wrinkle treatment Botox that is fighting a hostile
takeover bid of $45.7 billion from Valeant Pharmaceuticals
International Inc.
For Related News and Information:
Pharma Plan in Deal Frenzy Is to Be Best, First or Move On
NSN N4I3796K50XS<GO>
Top stories: TOP <GO>
Today’s most popular health-care stories:MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
Bloomberg Industries reports: BI PHRM <GO>
To contact the reporters on this story:
Drew Armstrong in New York at +1-212-617-8933 or
darmstrong17@bloomberg.net;
Michelle Fay Cortez in Minneapolis at +1-612-991-8887 or
mcortez@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reg Gale at +1-212-617-2563 or
rgale5@bloomberg.net
Andrew Pollack, Russell Ward