– Provides immediate scale and profitability to AbbVie’s growth platform, excluding Humira, significantly expanding and diversifying its revenue base with new therapeutic areas, including Allergan’s leading medical aesthetics business
– Enhances long-term R&D funding capacity, allowing for continued investment and sustained focus on innovative science and advancement of an industry-leading pipeline
– Increases global commercial scale to further maximize the value of Allergan’s attractive portfolio of fast-growing products
– Combined company will produce robust cash flow to support continued dividend growth, further investment in the pipeline and reduction of debt levels
– Transaction delivers significant and immediate accretion and provides an attractive return on invested capital
– Creates substantial value for shareholders of both companies and is expected to close in early 2020
– Allergan Shareholders will receive 0.8660 AbbVie Shares and $120.30 in cash for each Allergan Share, for a total consideration of $188.24 per Allergan Share
– Transaction equity value of approximately $63 billion

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, USA and DUBLIN, Ireland I June 25, 2019 I AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) and Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN)  announced that the companies have entered into a definitive transaction agreement under which AbbVie will acquire Allergan in a cash and stock transaction for a transaction equity value of approximately $63 billion, based on the closing price of AbbVie’s common stock of $78.45 on June 24, 2019.

 

“This is a transformational transaction for both companies and achieves unique and complementary strategic objectives,” said Richard A. Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer, AbbVie. “The combination of AbbVie and Allergan increases our ability to continue to deliver on our mission to patients and shareholders. With our enhanced growth platform to fuel industry-leading growth, this strategy allows us to diversify AbbVie’s business while sustaining our focus on innovative science and the advancement of our industry-leading pipeline well into the future.”

“This acquisition creates compelling value for Allergan’s stakeholders, including our customers, patients and shareholders. With 2019 annual combined revenue of approximately $48 billion, scale in more than 175 countries, an industry-leading R&D pipeline and robust cash flows, our combined company will have the opportunity to make even bigger contributions to global health than either can alone,” said Brent Saunders, chairman and chief executive officer, Allergan.  “Our fast-growing therapeutic areas, including our world class medical aesthetics, eye care, CNS and gastrointestinal businesses, will enhance AbbVie’s strong growth platform and create substantial value for shareholders of both companies.”

Strategic Rationale

  • New growth platforms and leadership positions to diversify and expand revenue base: The combined company will consist of several attractive franchises with leadership positions across immunology, hematologic oncology, medical aesthetics, neuroscience, women’s health, eye care and virology.  Allergan’s product portfolio will be enhanced by AbbVie’s commercial strength, expertise and international infrastructure.
  • Immediate scale and enhanced profitability for AbbVie’s growth platform: AbbVie’s enhanced growth platform, comprised of growing and durable franchises across highly-attractive therapeutic areas, is expected to grow at a high-single digit annual growth rate well into the next decade, from more than $30 billion in 2020.
  • Financially attractive with immediate EPS accretion: This transaction is expected to be 10% accretive to adjusted earnings per share over the first full year following the close of the transaction, with peak accretion of greater than 20%.1  ROIC is expected to exceed AbbVie’s cost of capital within the first full year.
  • Significant cash flow generation: The success and scale of the combined commercial business ensures funding capacity and flexibility for simultaneous robust pipeline investment, debt reduction and capital return to shareholders. The combined companies generated $19 billion in operating cash flow in 2018.

Structure and Governance

Upon completion of the transaction, AbbVie will continue to be incorporated in Delaware as AbbVie Inc. and have its principal executive offices in North Chicago, Ill.  AbbVie will continue to be led by Richard A. Gonzalez as chairman and chief executive officer. Two members of Allergan’s Board, including chairman and chief executive officer, Brent Saunders, will join AbbVie’s Board upon completion of the transaction.

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the Transaction Agreement, Allergan Shareholders will receive 0.8660 AbbVie Shares and $120.30 in cash for each Allergan Share that they hold, for a total consideration of $188.24 per Allergan Share.2 The transaction represents a 45% premium to the closing price of Allergan’s Shares on June 24, 2019.

AbbVie anticipates that the Acquisition will provide annual pre-tax synergies and other cost reductions of at least $2 billion in year three while leaving investments in key growth franchises untouched. The synergies and other cost reductions will be a result of optimizing the research and early stage portfolio, and reducing overlapping R&D resources (~50%), driving efficiencies in SG&A, including sales and marketing and central support function costs (~40%), and eliminating redundancies in manufacturing and supply chain, and leveraging procurement spend (~10%). The synergies estimate excludes any potential revenue synergies.3

AbbVie is expected to generate significant annual operating cash flow, which will support a debt reduction target of $15 to $18 billion before the end of 2021, while also enabling a continued commitment to Baa2/BBB or better credit rating and continued dividend growth.

It is expected that, immediately after the closing of the Acquisition, AbbVie Shareholders will own approximately 83% of AbbVie on a fully diluted basis and the Allergan Shareholders will own approximately 17% of AbbVie on a fully diluted basis.

The transaction is subject to the Conditions set out in Appendix III of the Rule 2.5 Announcement, including certain regulatory approvals and approval by Allergan’s Shareholders.

1 The statement that this transaction is earnings accretive should not be interpreted to mean that the earnings per share in the current or any future financial period will necessarily match or be greater than those for the relevant preceding financial period.

2 Subject to adjustment in accordance with the Exchange Ratio Modification Number.

3 There are various material assumptions underlying the synergies and other cost reductions which may result in the synergies and other cost reductions being materially greater or less than estimated. The estimates should therefore be read in conjunction with the bases and assumptions for these synergy numbers which are set out in Appendix I of this announcement. The synergies and other cost reductions have been reported on in accordance with Rule 19.3(b) of the Irish Takeover Rules by (i) PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and (ii) Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc. Copies of their respective reports are included in Appendix IV and Appendix V to this announcement. Each of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc has given and not withdrawn its consent to the issue of this announcement with the inclusion of its report and context in which it is included. The synergy and earnings enhancement statements in this section should not be construed as a profit forecast or interpreted to mean that the earnings of AbbVie and/or Allergan in 2019, or in any subsequent period, would necessarily match or be greater than or be less than those of AbbVie and/or Allergan for the relevant financial period or any other period. The synergies estimate excludes any potential revenue synergies.

Conference Call and Other Materials

AbbVie will host an investor conference call today at 7:30 a.m. Central to discuss this transaction. The call will be webcast through AbbVie’s Investor Relations website at investors.abbvie.com. An archived edition of the call will be available after 11 a.m. Central. Presentation materials for the investor conference call are available here.

Conference call details: 
Date:              Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Call start time:   7:30 a.m. Central time
Dial-in numbers: 877-934-8565 (toll free) or 210-795-9161 (international)
Passcode:           ABBVIE
   
Please place your call by 7:15 a.m. Central time in order to be cleared for the start of the call at 7:30 a.m. Central time. 
 
Call replay:     800-846-1910 (toll free) or 402-280-9953 (international)
Replay code:   62519

In addition, an infographic highlighting the key attributes of this transaction is available here

AbbVie’s lead financial advisor is Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC who has delivered a fairness opinion and has provided the committed financing for the transaction, and its legal advisors are Kirkland & Ellis LLP and McCann FitzGerald. PJT Partners LP is also serving as a financial advisor to AbbVie. Allergan’s exclusive financial advisor is J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and its legal advisors are Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Arthur Cox.

Key Questions and Answers

1. What are the strategic and financial benefits of this transaction?

This transaction achieves unique and complementary strategic objectives for both organizations. Combining Allergan’s diversified on-market product portfolio with AbbVie’s growth platform and deep expertise in R&D, commercial strength and international footprint will create a leading biopharmaceutical company with approximately $48 billion in combined 2019 revenue. This combination also enhances AbbVie’s ability for robust investment in its industry-leading pipeline of innovative therapies throughout the next decade and enables AbbVie to deliver on its mission to better serve patients.

The financial benefits include immediate 10% earnings-per-share accretion over the first full year of the combination, with peak accretion of greater than 20%. The transaction will generate annual pre-tax synergies and other cost reductions of at least $2 billion in year three, with a return on invested capital to exceed AbbVie’s cost of capital within the first full year.

2. When do you anticipate this transaction to close and what is the leadership structure for the new combined company?

We anticipate closing of the transaction by early 2020, subject to regulatory and Allergan’s shareholder approvals. The combined company will continue to be incorporated in Delaware and have its principal executive offices in North Chicago, Ill. Richard A. Gonzalez will serve as the chairman and chief executive officer through the Humira loss of exclusivity in 2023.  AbbVie’s Board will include two Allergan board members, including Allergan’s chairman and chief executive officer, Brent Saunders.

3.  Does this transaction represent a change in your fundamental strategy for AbbVie?

This transaction enhances our ability to continue to advance our mission to develop a consistent stream of innovative medicines to create a remarkable impact on people’s lives.  AbbVie will now have a more diversified product portfolio with several leadership positions in high value therapeutic areas and an industry-leading pipeline of next-generation therapies with ensured capacity for continued investment across our innovative pipeline.

4.  What is the benefit of doing a transaction of this size versus smaller bolt-on acquisitions?

This transaction is designed to meet a different strategic imperative than smaller bolt-on acquisitions. Its ability to deliver immediate scale to the AbbVie growth platform with Allergan’s on-market diversified product portfolio meets our strategic goal to reduce reliance on Humira and allows us to continue expanding our focus on high-innovation science throughout the next decade. 

Smaller bolt-on acquisitions provide opportunities for future growth, but also require significant R&D investment amid scientific and clinical uncertainty. This transaction offers immediate compelling financial and strategic value to our shareholders with a much lower risk profile.

5.  What is your level of confidence in your ability to operate the combined company given that it represents somewhat of a change in the mix of businesses from what AbbVie has been?

We are highly confident in our ability to enhance the value of Allergan’s existing commercial franchises and capitalize on next-generation pipeline programs. AbbVie has a proven track record of industry leading financial performance and commercial expertise in building market-leading franchises in immunology, hematologic oncology, and other areas, and our geographic scale will enable us to unlock additional value in Allergan’s franchises. Our senior leadership team is experienced in leading diverse businesses and we are confident in our future success.

6.  What are your plans for capital allocation for the combined company?  How do you intend to address the debt levels of the combined company?

The combined company will produce robust cash flow which will support continued growth of our dividend, further investment in our pipeline, and reduction of debt. We intend to reduce debt levels by $15-$18 billion by the end of 2021, with further deleveraging through 2023.

7.  What do you view as the largest risks associated with the transaction?

Any transaction of this magnitude involves a series of regulatory approvals and integration complexities. Both companies have organizations that are highly experienced at integrating businesses and we expect that process to be efficient and thorough.

About AbbVie and Acquirer Sub

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative advanced therapies for some of the world’s most complex and critical conditions. The company’s mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to markedly improve treatments across four primary therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, virology and neuroscience. In more than 75 countries, AbbVie employees are working every day to advance health solutions for people around the world. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

Acquirer Sub, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AbbVie, is a limited liability company organized in Delaware solely for the purpose of effecting the Acquisition. To date, Acquirer Sub has not conducted any activities other than those incidental to its formation and the execution of the Transaction Agreement.

About Allergan

Allergan, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global pharmaceutical leader focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world. Allergan markets a portfolio of brands and products primarily focused on four key therapeutic areas including medical aesthetics, eye care, central nervous system and gastroenterology. As part of its approach to delivering innovation for better patient care, Allergan has built a broad pharmaceutical and device research and development pipelines.

With employees and commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.  For more information about Allergan, please visit www.allergan.com

 SOURCE: AbbVie