Shire Prepared to Recommend AbbVie’s £31 Billion Offer
Shire have confirmed that they are willing to recommend the takeover bid offer by AbbVie, after the company increased their offer to £53.20 a share.
The updated offer submitted on Sunday follows four previous unsuccessful bids by AbbVie to acquire Shire.
Shire confirmed that the new bid would comprise of £24.44 in cash and 0.8960 shares of the new AbbVie for each Shire share. This would mean that under the new bid, which is valued at around £31 billion, Shire shareholders would own roughly 25% of the new combined company.
Mick Cooper, analyst at Edison Investment Research, commented that “it is pleasing to see the two boards working well together and the proposed offer seems a fair price that represents good value for both companies’ shareholders.”
Richard Gonzalez, AbbVie’s chief executive, added that he believes marrying the firms “would create a global market leader with unique characteristics and a compelling investment thesis.”