Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has agreed to merge with Alere (NYSE:ALR) ending the long legal fights over the deal. Abbott has eventually decided to acquire the Alere for a lower price than what the company had initiate set.
The company will now purchase Alere for about $5.3 billion down from the anticipated $5.8 billion set in the agreement in last year. According to the latest news, Abbot will pay about $51 for each common share to obtain Alere down from the proposed $56 per share. This brings down the offer to $4.44 billion from the former amount about $5 billion. This is expected to be implemented after the approval is complete by end of September.
According to the Abbott’s spokesman, Scott Stoffel, the agreement marks the end of the struggles the two companies have experienced in the last few months and this will also bring more opportunities for growth in both existing and emerging markets.
The company’s decision to acquire Alere began last year and the deal was expected to make the firm a leading supplier of point-of-care testing services. Since then the fight between the two companies began. Abbot claimed several negative developments about Alere which allegedly had reduced the value of Alere’s asset values including the move by the government to eliminate the billing privileges, the product recall, the government iniquities, and the filing of their 2015 financial outcomes late. Abbott had considered pulling out of the agreement due to so many problems facing Alere but later agreed to the deal but at a lower cost.
Towards the closure of last year, Abbott filed a complaint seeking to end the deal but faced fierce and vicious opposition from Alere, which had earlier filed another law case against Abbott about the deal. Today, both companies are smiling as everyone has agreed to move on with the deal which will be implemented by the end of the year.
The fights between the two companies have largely affected their business performance with Alere’s shares coming down drastically in the recent months. This could have been saved if the two companies could have reached the agreement faster instead of dragging the matter for over 14 months.
