US drug maker Abbvie suffers embarrassing statement slip-up in £30billion pursuit of Shire
US drugs group AbbVie has suffered an embarrassing slip-up in its £30billion pursuit of Shire after being forced to retract statements from its boss that shareholders of the FTSE-100 company supported its bid.
AbbVie chief executive Richard Gonzalez said he believed major Shire investors were “generally supportive” of its latest £51.15 a share offer.
AbbVie confirms that it has not received any written commitments of support and accordingly retracts the statements
Under the rules a company cannot claim to have shareholder support unless it has this in writing.
The company said: “AbbVie confirms that it has not received any written commitments of support and accordingly retracts the statements.
“It acknowledges that in the absence of written statements of support from shareholders it is not in a position to make any statement of shareholder support.”
Panmure Gordon’s David Buik said: “These comments are unprecedented in my experience and could be interpreted as price sensitive.” Shire shares fell 11p to 4519p.