Alere Shares Surge Almost 50% On News Of Abbott Takeover

Alere Inc. shares surged almost 50% in premarket trade Monday, after Abbott Laboratories said it has agreed to buy the diagnostics company in a deal with an equity value of $5.8 billion. Abbott Labs said it will pay $56 per Alere share, or a 50% premium over Friday's closing price. "The combination of Alere and Abbott will create the world's premier point of care testing business and significantly strengthen and grow Abbott's diagnostics presence," Abbott Chief Executive Miles White said in a statement. The deal will immediately boost earnings per share and will be "significantly accretive" after that, said Abbott. The company is expecting to generate annual pretax synergies of about $500 million by 2019. Abbott shares were not yet active in premarket trade.