The deal, first announced in June, received near-unanimous approval from the Dublin-based pharmaceutical company's shareholders.
Allergan announced that shareholders approved the pending $63 billion acquisition by Abbvie, according to a press release Monday.
The deal, first announced in late June, received near-unanimous approval from the Dublin-based pharmaceutical company's shareholders. In an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, votes in favor of the deal totaled nearly 69%.
"On behalf of Allergan's Board of Directors and executive team, I would like to thank our shareholders for their overwhelming support of the proposed combination with AbbVie," Brent Saunders, CEO of Allergan, said in a statement. "In addition to delivering value for shareholders, this combination will create a leading biopharmaceutical company with a diversified portfolio and enhanced opportunity to invest in and deliver innovation for the patients we serve."
The megamerger is one of the highlights for a sector with a high capacity for M&A activity, thanks in large part to high cash levels and moderate EBITDA.
According to a Moody's report on the pharmaceutical sector from mid-June, released prior to the announcement of the deal, Allergan was listed as a limited acquisition capacity drugmaker.
Meanwhile, Abbvie was listed among four other pharmaceutical companies as having significant revenue concentration for similar patented products that will expire in the next decade.
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Abbvie stocks were up slightly during early morning trading while Allergan stocks traded down slightly.
The shareholder approval comes about a eight weeks after Celgene, a competitor to Abbvie, announced the sale of Otezla to Amgen, another competitor, for $13.4 billion as part of the company's $74 billion acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
For its own part, Allergan had an eventful summer after the deal was announced.
In July, the company recalled breast implants after the Food and Drug Administration found that the risk of developing cancer was six times higher in Allergan's products compared to those produced by other companies.
Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.
Photo credit: LONDON, UK - OCTOBER 21ST 2017: The homepage of the official website for the pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc, on 21st October 2017. - Image / Editorial credit: chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com