AbbVie Inc. made an official statement on Tuesday, saying that it made a fourth bid to acquire Shire Plc. The drug manufacturer revealed that it has decided to increase the price to about 30.1 billion pounds (51.5 billion dollars). The new offer values the shares of Shire at 51.15 pounds apiece, which is 11% higher than its previous bid and is driven by AbbVies desire to accelerate talks.
According to a statement made by Shire Plc, its board is to gather in order to discuss the offer. Shire Plc also shared that it wasnt given the latest bid of AbbVie ahead of time and the company recommended investors to take no action.
As AbbVie Inc. said in its announcement, the cash-and-stock bid equals to 51.15 pounds (87.62 dollars) a share, which is a 11% increase from its previous offer. The updated price also represents a 48% premium to the share price of Shire the day before the first offer was made in early May. If the deal is finalized, Shires shareholders would end up holding about 24% stake of the enlarged company. In case the latest bid of AbbVie is accepted by Shires board, the investors of the latter would get 22.44 pounds in cash and 0.8568 of an ordinary share of AbbVie for each Shire share.
Mr. Richard Gonzalez, who is currently occupying the position of a Chief Executive Officer of AbbVie Inc., was reported to have spoken to the top 20 investors of Shire before making the new offer.
Mr. Gonzalez commented in a telephone interview for Bloomberg yesterday: “I met with the majority of Shire shareholders and they understand the strategic rationale. I believe they are generally supportive of the transaction and this offer is responsive of their feedback.” The Chief Executive Officer of AbbVie Inc. also added: “We have asked for, on multiple occasions, engagement. We are not engaged with Shire currently.”
AbbVie Inc. was 2.98% down to close at 55.69 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +27.50%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 8 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for AbbVie Inc. have a median target of 61.00, with a high estimate of 69.00 and a low estimate of 50.00. The median estimate represents a +9.53% increase from the last price of 55.69.
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