16th Oct 2014 08:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shire PLC said Thursday that it is "considering the current situation" and will make a further announcement, after AbbVie Inc late Wednesday recommended that its shareholders vote against AbbVie's proposed acquisition of Shire.
Late Wednesday, AbbVie said it had chosen to withdraw its recommendation after considering the impact of new measures brought in by the US Department of Treasury September 22 to curb so-called 'tax inversion' deals. It had said late Tuesday that it was re-considering its approved offer for Shire, causing the Irish drug company's shares to sink Wednesday.
"The breadth and scope of the changes, including the unexpected nature of the exercise of administrative authority to impact longstanding tax principles, and to target specifically a subset of companies that would be treated differently than either other inverted companies or foreign domiciled entities, introduced an unacceptable level of uncertainty to the transaction," AbbVie said in the statement to its shareholders Wednesday.
AbbVie's board had been expected to meet next week to consider whether to pull the deal, but Shire waived its right to require three business days notice for the board meeting.
AbbVie ha said it faces paying Shire a hefty break fee of around USD1.635 billion due to its withdrawal.
Shares in Shire are trading down 8.2% Thursday morning, having fallen 22% Wednesday.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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