I see there is no mention of Lazard in this morning's $53 billion deal announcement from AbbVie and Shire (for readers unfamiliar with this ongoing tale it might be worthwhile clicking here: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/whats-missing-from-abbvies-27-billion.html).
I am presuming, therefore, the venerable firm has not been hired by Shire as a "rule 3" adviser. Rule 3 advisers are typically appointed by British company boards to advise on whether an offer is "fair".
And you would have thought that having secured a formal £32 billion cash and shares offer from AbbVie, now might be the right time for a counter bidder (advised by Lazard, perhaps?) for Shire to step in.
However, I am told by some very well-placed sources this is now pretty much a "done" deal i.e. the implication being that there no firm counter bidders out there. So, the Lazard mystery rumbles on although I'm not sure we will ever get to bottom of the full story.
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