Abbott Laboratories said it has filed a complaint in court seeking to terminate its $5.8 billion deal to acquire diagnostic-test company Alere Inc., stepping up a battle between the two companies.

"Alere is no longer the company Abbott agreed to buy 10 months ago," Abbott communications executive Scott Stoffel stated in a news release. Abbott said it has filed the complaint with the Delaware Court of Chancery.

An Alere spokeswoman wasn't immediately available to comment.

Abbott reasserted that several negative developments have diminished Alere's value since the deal was reached in late January, adding that Alere has blocked Abbott's efforts to obtain more details about the issues. These include the government eliminating billing privileges at Alere's diabetes unit, a product recall, government inquiries and the late filing of its 2015 financial results.

Abbott agreed to acquire Alere in late January, a deal Abbott at the time expected would make it a leading provider of point-of-care testing.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2016 13:15 ET (18:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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