AbbVie Extends Exchange Offer For Pharmacyclics Until May 1

(RTTNews) - AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) announced that it extended the expiration of its exchange offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pharmacyclics, Inc. (PCYC) to 5 p.m., New York City time, on May 1, 2015.

On April 17, 2015, AbbVie also voluntarily withdrew its initial Notification and Report Form under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act in order to provide the FTC with additional time to review the proposed transaction. A new 30 calendar day HSR waiting period will begin when AbbVie resubmits its HSR filing, which is expected to occur on April 21, 2015. AbbVie and Pharmacyclics continue to work cooperatively with the Federal Trade Commission staff in their review of the proposed transaction, and expect to close the transaction in second-quarter 2015.

The depositary of the exchange offer has advised that, as of 4:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 17, 2015, a total of approximately 47.47 million shares of Pharmacyclics common stock were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn in the exchange offer.

In March, Research-based biopharmaceutical company AbbVie and Pharmacyclics Inc. announced a definitive agreement for AbbVie to acquire Pharmacyclics, and its flagship asset Imbruvica (ibrutinib), a treatment for hematologic malignancies. The cash and stock deal values Pharmacyclics at about $21 billion. As per the terms of the transaction, AbbVie would pay $261.25 per share comprised of a mix of cash and AbbVie equity.