Pfizer, one of the biggest American pharmaceutical corporations, finally obtained the approval from the U.S. for buying Hospira, another pharmaceutical, and medical device company with headquarters in Illinois. They also gained the European Union antitrust approval last Tuesday.
The deal was made possible on the condition that four U.S. sterile injectable assets such as Acetylcysteine, Clindamycin, Voriconazole and Melphalan, be expropriated. "The approval is conditional on Pfizer divesting certain injectable drugs, as well as its infliximab biosimilar drug, which is currently under development," said the European Commission. The company is expected to pay about $15 billion for the injectable drug and infusion device maker.
Pfizer's management expects the deal to close as early as next month. "We are pleased to have received these final regulatory approvals for our pending acquisition of Hospira. We now look forward to combining our two companies and expect the transaction to close early in September," said CEO Ian Read.
Last Monday, shares of Pfizer decreased 2.9% at $32.55 at mid-day whereas Hospira's share has a 0.3% increase at $89.90 late that night.
Hospira's market cap is $15.5 billion while Pfizer lands with $201 billion. This 2015, both companies are expecting to generate an operation increase of $4.7 billion and $46.1 billion for Hospira and Pfizer, respectively.
With Hospira now under the management of Pfizer, it is pretty exciting what new developments they can come up with. The merging of Pfizer and Hospira is giving the company a hope to become a top player in their field of biosimilar market and to extend the reach of Hospira's products to other countries like Europe.
