U.S. healthcare firm Abbott Laboratories is to purchase Russian drugmaker Veropharm for up to $495 million, giving it a manufacturing presence in a country where it has been operating for nearly 40 years, Abbott said on Tuesday.Shares in Veropharm, which has a market capitalisation of $300 million, shot up 36 percent in early trading in Moscow.Under the deal, Abbott will buy Garden Hills, a holding company which owns a controlling interest in Veropharm, for a range of $395 million to $495 million, depending on Garden Hills' share ownership of Veropharm at time of close, it said.Garden Hills currently owns more than 80 percent of Veropharm but is expected to own more than 95 percent when the deal closes, Abbott said.
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a portfolio of science-based health care products. Shares of ABT fell by 0.29% or $-0.12/share to $40.73. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $32.70 and as high as $41.30. On average, 6290830 shares of ABT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4922713.
Source
