Abbott Laboratories announced Friday an agreement to lower the price it will pay for Alere Inc. by nearly 9%, with the expected equity value of the deal falling to $5.3 billion from $5.8 billion. Under terms of the amended merger agreement, Abbott will now pay $51 a share for each Allere share outstanding, a 21% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $42.31. When the merger deal was originally announced on Feb. 1, 2016, Abbott said it would pay $56 a share. The amended merger agreement comes in the wake of a tough year for Alere, which was highlighted by a report in The Wall Street Journal that the diagnostic-testing company was facing a criminal probe over Medicare and Medicaid billing practices. Alere’s stock has tumbled 16% over the past 12 months, while Abbott shares have slipped 1.9%, the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has tacked on 5.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 12%.
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