Pfizer Buys Anacor In Turn to Smaller Deals -- WSJ
17 May 2016 - 5:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Anne Steele and Jonathan D. Rockoff
Pfizer Inc. said Monday it would buy Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc.
for about $4.5 billion, as it turns to smaller deals after walking
away from its scuttled acquisition of Allergan PLC.
Pfizer will pay $99.25 a share in cash for Anacor, a 55% premium
to Friday's closing price. The companies said the deal, including
debt, is valued at $5.2 billion.
Last month, Pfizer and Allergan terminated their planned $150
billion merger after the Obama administration took aim at the deal
that would have moved the biggest drug company in the U.S. to
Ireland to lower its taxes. Since then, Pfizer has been looking for
deals of its own.
Pfizer executives have said they would like to boost their
portfolio of patent-protected drugs. The company plans to decide by
the end of the year whether to split into separate businesses
focused on new drugs and medicines that have lost patent
protection.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Anacor has no products on the market.
Its flagship asset, crisaborole, is currently under review by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of eczema.
Pfizer said that drug could add peak sales of $2 billion, and
noted that Anacor also holds the rights to Kerydin, a topical
treatment for toenail fungus, which is distributed in the U.S. by
Novartis AG's Sandoz business.
Skin treatment isn't a focus of Pfizer, but the company said
that Anacor's drugs would complement Pfizer's lineup of
inflammation and immunology products. Pfizer's biggest offering in
the lucrative market is rheumatoid-arthritis pill Xeljanz, and the
company has several more drugs in development.
Pfizer said the transaction, which is expected to close in the
third quarter, won't affect its guidance for the year. It said it
anticipates the deal will hurt adjusted earnings slightly in 2017
and add to them beginning in 2018.
Pfizer stock was relatively flat on the news. Anacor shares,
which had slipped 43% this year, added 55% to $99.22 in midday
trading Monday. Pfizer's purchase price is roughly where Anacor
traded in January before lingering in the $60s the past several
months.
Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com and Jonathan D.
Rockoff at Jonathan.Rockoff@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 17, 2016 02:51 ET (06:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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