The Pfizer deal is significant in terms of the size of the deal and resultant company. The deal is worth a colossal $160 billion and the end of the process will create the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company.
The deal will see Allergan as the parent company, although a subsidiary of Allergan will merge with Pfizer and the parent company will then be renamed Pfizer plc.
The deal is not ratified yet. The plan is to have everything completed by the second part of 2016. This will require regulatory approval in Europe and in the U.S. Shareholders of both companies will also need to approve the move.
As part of the process, Pharmtech reports Pfizer will move its principal executive offices to Ireland in order to lower its tax bill. The global operational headquarters will move to New York. Allergan will also shed its generics business to Teva Pharmaceuticals.
In other pharmaceutical sector news, following the stalling of an earlier bid, the company Shire is preparing a new takeover offer for U.S. biotech firm Baxalta. A bid made by Shire last year, worth $30 billion, was rejected.
According to PharmaFile, Shire are keen to push forward the deal because Baxalta, with a market capitalization of $22.7 billion, would complement Shire’s growing portfolio of high-priced treatments for rare or “orphan” diseases. These include rare blood conditions, cancers and immune system disorders. Shire’s activities come after the company announced its $5.9 billion purchase of U.S. company Dyax Corp, specialists in rare diseases and genetic testing.
The pharmaceuticals business remains lucrative for the big players. Global spending on drugs is set to continue to rise, with spending expected to increase to $349 billion by 2020.
