US pharmaceutical giant AbbVie was today forced to retract statements from its boss that suggested it had the support of Shire shareholders in its bid to acquire its Dublin-based rival for £30.1 billion.
The American company was forced into the embarrassing move by the UK Takeover Panel after having raised its offer for Shire by 11% on Tuesday.
At the time, AbbVie said its management and financial advisor, JPMorgan, had “spoken to shareholders representing a majority of Shire’s outstanding shares”.
Although it did not claim it had received support from them, AbbVie’s chairman and chief executive, Richard Gonzalez, later told reporters: “I believe they are generally supportive of this transaction and this offer is indicative of those discussions.”
However, it was today forced to retract the statements and acknowledging “that in the absence of written statements of support from shareholders it is not in a position to make any statement of shareholder support”.
