Drugmakers Abbott Laboratories and Mylan Inc on Wednesday declined to explain in detail why they changed the terms of a $5.3 billion deal in which Mylan will purchase part of Abbott's overseas generics business and reincorporate for tax purposes in the Netherlands.Analysts and banking experts said the changes were almost certainly aimed at protecting tax gains from the so-called "inversion" deal, one of several to surface in recent months in which U.S. companies seek to shift their tax domiciles abroad.The altered contract for the deal came a month after the Treasury Department made changes to U.S. tax rules aimed at discouraging inversion deals, which the Obama administration sees as a threat to the U.S. corporate tax base."The (tax law) changes from Treasury are making people re-look at deal terms, and deals are not as favorable now," said Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau. "That's what happened here, there had to be some tweaks" in the Abbott/Mylan contract.
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 1.89% or $-0.8/share to $41.59. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $35.65 and as high as $44.20. On average, 4594200 shares of ABT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6986485.
Mylan Inc. (Mylan) is a fully integrated global pharmaceutical company that develops, licenses, manufactures, markets and distributes generic, branded generic and specialty pharmaceuticals. Shares of MYL fell by 3.24% or $-1.685/share to $50.36. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $36.97 and as high as $57.52. On average, 4954920 shares of MYL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6964559.
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