Biotech Values

[ilpapa]

London-listed drugmaker Shire Plc succumbed to an increased 31 billion pounds takeover offer from Abbvie Inc on Monday, signalling the conclusion to a long-running courtship largely motivated by tax.

Shire said it was ready to recommend the deal, the latest in a list of mergers proposed by U.S. firms seeking to cut their tax rates, and which comes less than seven weeks after the collapse of Pfizer Inc's $118 billion bid for AstraZeneca Plc, also motivated in part by tax factors.<snip>