Shares of Allergan PLC AGN, -0.95% soared 35% toward an 8-month high in premarket trading Tuesday, after The Wall Street Journal reported that AbbVie Inc. ABBV, -0.42% was close to a deal to buy the pharmaceutical company. AbbVie's stock dropped 6.0% ahead of the open. The WSJ report said AbbVie would pay $188 in cash and stock for each Allergan share outstanding, which is 45% above Monday's closing price of $129.57. With 327.8 million shares outstanding as of May 3, the deal would value Allergan at about $61.6 billion. AbbVie's market capitalization as of Monday's close was $115.98 billion. Allergan's stock has declined 24.3% over the past 12 months through Monday and AbbVie shares have lost 15.7%, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETFXLV, -0.52% has climbed 10.8% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.17% has advanced 8.4%.
