AbbVie Boosts Shire Offer For the 4th Time

The next chapter in the saga between AbbVie ABBV and Shire SHPG was formed Tuesday morning: AbbVie submitted another offer to buy Shire. The newest offer is 48 percent higher than Shire’s common stock price when the takeover attempt began in April.

The fourth buyout offer for Shire is approximately an 11 percent increase from the previous bid. The new offer stands at £22.44 cash and 0.8568 AbbVie shares for each Shire share, or £51.15 total.

Related: Jefferies Raises PT to $45 on AbbVie on Pipeline Visibility

AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez commented, “AbbVie has made a compelling offer to Shire that creates immediate and long-term value to shareholders of both companies. We think its shareholders should strongly encourage the Shire board to engage in constructive dialogue with AbbVie.”

As expected, shares of Shire are moving higher in Tuesday’s premarket trading. The company was last trading at $240.01, 1.1 percent higher than Monday’s close. AbbVie shares on the other hand are unchanged.