Abbott filed a complaint seeking to terminate its planned acquisition of Alere Wednesday.
Since entering into the $5.8 billion transaction agreement earlier this year, diagnostics company Alere "suffered a series of damaging business developments," Abbott said in a statement. These include federal investigations, the recall of a product platform and the revocation of government billing privileges from an Alere subsidiary.
"Alere is no longer the company Abbott agreed to buy 10 months ago," Abbott Spokesman Scott Stoffel said in the release, according to Chicago Tribune. "These numerous negative developments are unprecedented and are not isolated incidents brought on by chance. We have attempted to secure details and information to assess these issues for months, and Alere has blocked every attempt. This damage to Alere's business can only be the result of a systemic failure of internal controls, which combined with the lack of transparency, led us to filing this complaint."
Alere issued the following response Wednesday morning.
"Abbott's lawsuit is entirely without merit. As Abbott well knows, none of the issues it has raised provides it with any grounds to avoid closing the merger. Alere has fully complied with its contractual obligations under the merger agreement and is highly confident that the merger will be completed in accordance with the terms set forth in the merger agreement. Alere will take all actions necessary to protect its shareholders and to compel Abbott to complete the transaction in accordance with its terms."