FILE PHOTO: The Allergan logo is seen in this photo illustration in Singapore November 23, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas White/File Photo
AbbVie Inc is nearing a deal to buy Botox-maker Allergan PLC for more than US$60 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
REUTERS: Drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Tuesday it would buy Botox-maker Allergan Plc for about US$63 billion, grabbing control of by far the biggest name in medical aesthetics to help reduce its reliance on blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira.
AbbVie has been under pressure to diversify its portfolio as Humira, the world’s best-selling drug, faces competition from cheaper versions in Europe.
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Allergan Chief Executive Officer Brent Saunders put together the current version of the company through a series of deals to roll up several pharmaceutical firms in 2014, and has run the company since then.
He built his reputation as a dealmaker, but his company has struggled since Pfizer Inc walked away from a US$160 billion deal to buy Allergan in 2016. Allergan’s shares have lost around half their value since then.
Saunders has been under pressure over the last year to break up the company, with activist investor David Tepper running a campaign to urge Allergan to hire an independent chairman.
Allergan shareholders will receive 0.8660 AbbVie shares and US$120.30 in cash for each share held, for a total consideration of US$188.24 per Allergan share, a premium of 45per cent to the stock’s Monday close.
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AbbVie shares were trading down 10.5per cent at US$70.50, while Allergan shares were up nearly 28.4per cent in early trading.
Maxim Jacobs, director of research for North America at Edison Investment Research, said the deal provides AbbVie with a set of assets to help diversify away from Humira at a very reasonable price.
“In return, Allergan shareholders get a decent premium to what has been an outrageously low stock price,” Jacobs said.
AbbVie will continue to be incorporated in Delaware as AbbVie Inc and will be led by Richard Gonzalez as chairman and chief executive officer.
Saunders and another member of Ireland-based Allergan’s board will join AbbVie’s board upon completion of the transaction.
The deal is expected to add 10per cent to adjusted earnings per share over the first full year following the close, the companies said.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Sriraj Kalluvila)
