North Chicago, Ill.-based AbbVie has reached a deal with Dublin, Ireland-based Shire to acquire the pharmaceutical company for nearly $54 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The combined company will still be called AbbVie, and is slated to be based in the United Kingdom, which will bring its tax rate down from 22 percent to 13 percent, according to the report.
Additionally, the proposed deal would increase Shire shareholders' shares to approximately 25 percent of the new company, allowing the company to change its tax residence due to the acquisition, according to the report.
If completed, the acquisition would be one of the biggest mergers of the year, according to the report, exceeding Medtronic's recent $43 billion acquisition of Covidien.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013.
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