AbbVie Unveils $5 Billion Buyback; Blames U.S. For Failed Inversion

AbbVie Inc.

launched a new $5 billion stock repurchase program and boosted its dividend by nearly 17 percent in the wake of its foiled $55 million tax inversion plan. The buyback is to be executed "over the next several years," while its quarterly dividend goes to $0.49 cents a share, from $0.42 cents. The move comes as AbbVie officially killed its $55 billion plan to acquire Dublin-based Shire PLC

. The decision, announced Monday, was widely expected after its board recommended last week against the deal. AbbVie will now pay a $1.63 billion breakup fee to Shire. North Chicago, Ill.-based AbbVie blamed the U.S. Department of Treasury's effort to discourage so-called tax inversions through rule changes unveiled last month. AbbVie's Chief Executive Richard A. Gonzalez called the new rules "an unprecedented unilateral action" by the Treasury that "destroyed the value in this transaction." Gonzalez added that U.S. "tax reform is essential to create competitiveness and to stimulate investment in the economy." AbbVie changed hands after hours recently at $54.75 a share, up 0.6 percent; Shire slipped 0.75 percent to $183.20 a share.