Alere Inc., which is grappling with foreign corruption probes, said it recently rejected an offer of up to $50 million by Abbott Laboratories to terminate their $5.8 billion merger agreement.

An Abbott representative was unavailable for immediate comment.

Abbott agreed in February to buy the health-care diagnostics company. Since then, Alere disclosed it has received a subpoena regarding a foreign corruption investigation over payments in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The company also has missed a deadline to file its 2015 annual report with regulators because it is analyzing its revenue recognition in Africa and China over the past three years.

Alere said Thursday that in recent discussions between the two companies, Abbott expressed concerns about the accuracy of the covenants made by Alere in their merger agreement. Abbott also has requested information from Alere about the governmental investigations, citing rights under the merger agreement, Alere said.

As part of those discussions, Alere said, Abbott offered to pay between $30 million and $50 million, in respect of Alere's transaction expenses, to terminate the merger agreement. Alere said its board rejected that request.

Earlier Thursday, Abbott unveiled an agreement to acquire St. Jude Medical Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $25 billion that would create one of the leading makers of heart-related devices. As part of that announcement, Abbott discussed plans to issue $3 billion of stock as part of a plan to finance both deals.

Last week, Abbott Chief Executive Miles D. White had declined to affirm his commitment to the Alere deal, prompting speculation about the deal's future.

Alere also said Thursday that it had received the requisite lender approval for an extension to file its annual report. The company said it hopes to conclude its accounting review and file its annual report as soon as practicable, followed by its first-quarter results.

Write to George Stahl at george.stahl@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 01:45 ET (05:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Abbott Laboratories Charts.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Abbott Laboratories Charts.