Abbott seeks to pull out of Alere acquisition

US drugmaker Abbott (NYSE: ABT) has filed a complaint to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere (NYSE: ALR) based on the substantial loss in Alere's value following the merger agreement.

The $5.8 billion ($56 per share) takeover offer for Alere was announced in January this year. Alere’s shares fell 8% to $36.67 by close of trading yesterday, following the announcement, giving it a market capitalization of around $3.2 billion.

In the 10 months following the January 30, 2016, signing of the agreement, Alere has suffered a series of damaging business developments, including the government eliminating the billing privileges of a substantial Alere division, the permanent recall of an important product platform, multiple new government subpoenas, including two new criminal subpoenas, and a five-month delay in filing its 10K coupled with admissions of internal control failures requiring restatement of its 2013-2015 financials.