Abbott Looks to Dump 1/3 of its Mylan Stake

April 1, 2015

Abbott Laboratories has filed to sell 35 million shares of Mylan stock as the Illinois-based drugmaker took its first step toward unloading its newly-acquired 22% stake in Mylan.

Last July, Abbott sold its drug portfolio in developed overseas markets to Mylan for 105 million shares of Mylan stock, an all-stock deal worth $5.3 billion. The deal allowed Mylan to benefit from a lower tax rate by reorganizing the company in the Netherlands. Under a revised deal, Abbott received a stake of about 22% in the new Mylan.

According to John Divine of InvestorPlace, Abbott "never planned on being a long-term shareholder in Mylan stock anyways; it said as much from the get-go. Abbott stated that it wanted to take the proceeds from the Mylan deal and reallocate them to higher-return projects, which is what the company will now be able to do after selling 32% of its stake."