UPDATE: Abbott Labs CEO: Not Evaluating Any Large Deals
April 15 2009 - 11:08AM
Dow Jones News
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Chief Executive Miles White said
Wednesday the drug and medical-products company isn't evaluating
any large acquisitions, and instead was focused on doing smaller
deals.
"We don't need large deals to achieve our financial or strategic
objectives," White said on a conference call with analysts after
reporting first-quarter results.
That may come as a surprise to some investors. Last month, The
Wall Street Journal reported Abbott had held preliminary takeover
talks with Wyeth (WYE) in December but decided not to pursue the
matter. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) subsequently agreed to buy Wyeth in a
deal originally valued at about $68 billion.
Abbott, Abbott Park, Ill., is believed to be the "Company X"
that was cited in Pfizer and Wyeth regulatory filings as having
expressed interest in Wyeth.
But White said Wednesday he was "amused by the Company X
dustup."He later added: "If the Company X comment was intended to
imply that Abbott competed for Wyeth, it is false. We did not
compete for Wyeth."
He said Abbott was "not necessarily looking at any large
M&A."
-Peter Loftus; Dow Jones Newswires; 215-656-8289;
peter.loftus@dowjones.com