NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Abbott Laboratories said Tuesday that it will eliminate 3,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan following its acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals.
The Abbott Park, Ill.-based health care company announced plans to buy Belgium-based Solvay for $6.2 billion in February.
Abbot spokesman Scott Stoffel said the move will "streamline operations and improve efficiencies across our global pharmaceuticals business."
Stoffel said the job cuts, which total about 3% of the company's global workforce, will be centered in Europe and will primarily impact Solvay employees. The move, he added, is designed to eliminate redundancies in research and development, manufacturing and commercial operations.
Abbott (ABT, Fortune 500) said in a regulatory filing that the cuts will result in pre-tax charges of up to $970 million over the next 2 years. But the company has previously stated that the acquisition will improve 2010 earnings by about 10 cents per share. 
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