Abbott plans to close $5B Alere buyout next week

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) said today that it plans to close its once star-crossed merger with Alere (NYSE:ALR) next week, after U.S. and Canadian anti-trust regulators yesterday approved the deal subject to concessions.

Abbott agreed to divest a blood gas testing system to Siemens (NYSE:SI), which also agreed to buy two Alere facilities in Ottawa. Quidel (NSDQ:QDEL) Corp. is slated to buy Abbott’s heart function testing system business and an Alere facility in San Diego.

Abbott offered to acquire Alere in February 2016. After several snafus, the company finally agreed to purchase Alere for $5.3 billion – down from its initial $5.8 billion price tag. The deal is now slated to close Oct. 3, Abbott said. Alere yesterday agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle SEC charges that it committed accounting fraud.

“Creating the world’s leading point of care business will help Abbott meet the growing demand for fast, accurate and actionable information,” diagnostic products EVP Brian Blaser said in prepared remarks. “Combined with Abbott’s existing point-of-care business and its leading hand-held platform, i-Stat, we now have the broadest point of care testing portfolio to help improve care for patients in more parts of the world.”

Abbott said the Alere buyout should take its diagnostics revenues to about $7 billion annually.

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