Alere says Abbott suffering from 'buyer's remorse' over deal

Alere Inc. accused Abbott Laboratories of seeking to scuttle the health-care companies' $5.8 billion merger by failing to get antitrust clearance because of "buyer's remorse," according to a newly unsealed lawsuit.

Abbott Chief Executive Officer Miles White vowed in a meeting with Alere's top executives to spare no expense and make life a "living hell" for Alere and drown it in a "sea of forensic-level informational demands" if the deal weren't terminated, according to the filing made public in Delaware Chancery Court.

The complaint provides details in the months-long dispute over Libertyville Township-based Abbott's takeover of Alere, designed to create the world's largest medical-testing company. Alere's stock, which has traded well under the $56-a-share offer for months during the standstill, fell further after the suit was filed Aug. 25.

The suit is "nonsense" and has no merit, Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel said in an interview. "Abbott is complying with its obligations under the merger agreement," he said. Abbott lawyers also labeled Alere's suit a "publicity stunt" in a court filing Wednesday.

The deal, signed Jan. 30, ran into trouble after Alere delayed filing documents about its 2015 financial performance with securities regulators. Alere has since disclosed two U.S. probes into some of its businesses overseas and its billing practices in the U.S.

Alere contends Abbott officials got cold feet about the takeover after agreeing to buy medical-device maker St. Jude Medical Inc. for $25 billion in April. That deal stretched Abbott's financial limits, forcing the health-care company to "triple its debt load and likely lowering its credit rating," according to the suit.

To scuttle the deal, Abbott has subjected Alere to an "endless and steady stream of unreasonable and extremely burdensome requests for both documents and interviews of Alere personnel," according to the complaint.

In response to Abbott's requests, Alere has provided nearly a million pages of documents and made 33 employees available to Abbott's outside litigation counsel for adversarial interviews, the suit alleges. Still, it has found no breach of any aspect of the merger, Alere said.

White, Abbott's CEO, has offered Alere officials as much as $50 million to cover its legal costs in exchange for ripping up the contract. That proposal was rejected by Alere's board earlier this year.