Major drugs company Pfizer has agreed to buy Illinois-based Hospira, which is a major manufacturer of injectable drugs, infusion technologies, and biosimilars, for $90 a share. This represents the first major acquisition for Pfizer after its attempt to buy AstraZeneca for more than $100 million was halted last year, amid concerns expressed by the U.K. government. With this aborted deal, the U.S. drugmaker had wanted to use acquisition of AstraZeneca to shift tax base to Britain, a move known as tax inversion.
The deal, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2015, comes as some of Pfizer’s top-selling drugs are set to lose patent protection. Thus the movement into a new arena is seen as a strategic move by Pfizer. Hospira is the world’s largest producer of generic injectable pharmaceuticals,manufacturing generic acute-care and oncology injectables, as well as integrated infusion therapy and medication management systems.
Expressing this, Pfizer’s chief executive Ian Read said in a statement: “The proposed acquisition of Hospira demonstrates our commitment to prudently deploy capital to create shareholder value and deliver incremental revenue and [earnings per share] growth in the near term.”
Pfizer officials said that the acquisition should net cost savings in the region of $800 million by 2018.
