By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Wednesday, with shares
of Shire PLC plunging as U.S. drug maker AbbVie Inc. indicated it's
reconsidering a plan to acquire the biopharmaceutical firm.
Investors were also awaiting the release of U.K. jobs data, due
at 9:30 a.m. London time.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.6% to 6,354.44, led by a 27% slide in Shire
shares . The shares were hit after AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) signaled late
Tuesday it may be rethinking its $54 billion planned purchase of
Shire because new tax rules from the U.S. Treasury Department make
the deal less attractive. AbbVie's board will meet next week to
discuss their recommendation to buy Shire.
Shares of British drug maker AstraZeneca PLC fell 4.1%. The
company earlier this year fought off a $120 takeover approach from
U.K. drug giant Pfizer Inc. (PFE).
In other action, shares of Balfour Beatty PLC climbed 10% after
the construction services company named Leo Quinn as its chief
executive. He previously served for five years as CEO at defense
technology maker QinetiQ Group PLC . Shares of QinetiQ fell
8.3%.
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