NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. generic drugmaker Mylan Inc is in advanced talks to acquire a multi-billion dollar portfolio of established products from Abbott Laboratories, people familiar with the matter said.
The proposed transaction, which is in its late stage discussions, would see MYLAN (MYL.NQ)acquire a big chunk of Abbott's Europe-based mature drugs for several billion dollars, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
The acquisition of the foreign assets could also allow the U.S. company to change its tax address to overseas, according to some of the people, a practice known as inversion that has become popular among healthcare companies seeking to cut their tax bills and gain access to cash held offshore.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
