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Cerevel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CERE) fell 5.5% as investors wait to hear if the Federal Trade Commission will approve its planned $8.7 billion sale to AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV). The deal spread is the widest since the transaction was announced in early December.
While there was no specific reason for the drop on Tuesday, some traders told Seeking Alpha there was some vague speculation out of broker that the FTC was gearing up for a lawsuit and that Cerevel (CERE) was increasingly looking like it may be the target for the regulator.
Some people also attributed the weakness to the Russell index reconstitution on Friday and some options trades on Tuesday.
AbbVie (ABBV) didn’t immediately respond to Seeking Alpha email request for comment.
The weakness comes even as AbbVie (ABBV) earlier this month attempted to reassure Cerevel (CERE) investors about the deal when its COO said at a Goldman Sachs healthcare conference said that the company was making “good progress” with the FTC.
“We’re making very good progress with that piece,” AbbVie COO Robert Michael said at the conference. “We continue to expect to close the transaction in the middle part of the year.”
Cerevel (CERE) and AbbVie disclosed in February that they received second requests from the FTC for additional information regarding their planned deal. In early December, AbbVie announced plans to acquire Cerevel for $45 per share, or roughly $8.7B, in cash.