Abbott Laboratories’ stalled acquisition of Alere Inc. is turning into an all-out brawl between the two makers of diagnostic testing devices, with both trading accusations of wrongdoing (Alere Inc. v. Abbott Labs.complaint unsealed).
In a newly unsealed lawsuit, Alere accused Abbott of trying to back out of the $5.8 billion purchase by dragging its heels with regulators and threatening to make its life a “living hell” by burying the company in paperwork over the merger.
Abbott countered with its own claims of Alere’s deception, accusing the company withholding information about federal probes and of coaching witnesses to lie ...