Elliott Associates sues AbbVie over failed bid for Shire

A screen displays the share price for pharmaceutical maker AbbVie on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 18, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N) said hedge fund Elliott Associates LP has sued the pharmaceuticals company alleging that it had made misrepresentations and omissions related to a failed attempt to buy Dublin-based Shire Plc (SHP.L).

AbbVie’s proposal to buy Shire in a $55 billion (£42 billion) so-called tax inversion deal was called off in November 2014.

Inversion deals are transactions in which the acquiring company moves its headquarters to its target’s home base to take advantage of lower tax rates.

Elliott Associates, a hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Singer, had said in 2014 that it made money on its Shire position in the third quarter, but suffered a loss in the fourth quarter when the share price tumbled on news the deal would collapse.

The case has been filed in the Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court, AbbVie said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

[Source:- Reuters]