AbbVie to buy Botox maker Allergan in $63 billion deal

Drugmaker AbbVie said Tuesday it would buy Botox maker Allergan for about $63 𝓀billion, grabbing control of by far the biggest name in medical aesthetics to help reduce its reliance on blockb🍨uster arthritis treatment Humira.

Allergan chief executive officer Brent Saunders put together the current version of the company through a series of d🦩eals to roll up several pharmaceutical firms in 2014, and has run the🃏 company since then.

He built his repu🌜tation as a dealmaker, but his company has struggled since Pfizer walked away from a $160 billion deal to buy Allergan in 2016. Allergan’s shares have lost around half their value since then.

Saunders has been undℱer pressure over the last year to break up the company, with activist investor David Tepper running a campaign to urge Allergan to🌸 hire an independent chairman.

Allergan shareholders will receive 0.8660 AbbVie shares and $120.30 in cash for each share held, for a total consideration of $188.24 per Allergan share, a p꧙remium of 45% to the stock’s Monday close.

AbbVie shares were trading down 10.5% at $70.50, while Allergan shares were up nearly𓃲 28.4% in early trading.

Maxim Jacobs, director of research𒆙 for North America at Edison Investm🍒ent Research, said the deal provides AbbVie with a set of assets to help diversify away from Humira at a very reasonable price.

“In return, Allergan shareholders get a decent premium to what has🐭 been an outr🅘ageously low stock price,” Jacobs said.

AbbVie will continue to be in𒊎corporated in Delawa꧂re as AbbVie Inc. and will be led by Richard Gonzalez as chairman and chief executive officer.

Saunders and another member of Ireland-based Allergan’s b❀oard will join AbbVie’s board upon completion of the transaction.

The deal is expected to add 10% to adjusted earnings per share over the first full year following the close, tꦗhe companies said.