AbbVie, Shire Terminate Proposed Merger, Inversion

AbbVie Inc. has canceled its proposed merger with Shire PLC that would have given the company lower overseas corporate taxes, AbbVie officials said in a press release late Monday. AbbVie Chairman and Chief Executive Richard A. Gonzalez said recent actions by the U.S. Treasury Department to rein in what are known as tax inversion deals "may have destroyed the value in this transaction," and he called for an updating of the U.S. tax code. Word circulated last week that the Treasury Department's action may have helped scuttle the $54 billion deal. AbbVie says it will pay Shire a $1.635 billion break fee.