Pfizer to buy King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion

Pfizer announced Tuesday an agreement to acquire King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion in cash, or $14.25 per share, representing a premium of approximately 40 percent over the company’s closing share price on October 11. Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler noted that the deal will allow the drugmaker “to offer a fuller spectrum” of pain treatments, and further diversifying the company’s business.

The agreement, which was approved by the boards of both companies, will give Pfizer access to such pain drugs as Avinza (morphine), Embeda (morphine sulfate/naltrexone hydrochloride) and the Flector Patch (diclofenac epolamine). King is also currently developing the tamper-resistant Remoxy (oxycodone), as well as a short-acting version of the drug, Acurox (oxycodone/niacin), which < a href=” http://www.firstwordplus.com/Fws.do?articleid=A2AACAE25AF042CB86175DCC0D39CE16″>failed to win an FDA panel’s support in April.

King, which generated annual revenues last year of nearly $1.8 billion, also makes specialty pharmaceuticals and animal health products. Pfizer noted that “King’s three key businesses are not only complementary…but are also strategically aligned with Pfizer’s Primary Care, Established Products and Animal Health business units, enabling a seamless combination.”

Pfizer expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings by approximately $0.02 in 2011 and 2012, and approximately $0.03 to $0.04 between 2013 and 2015. The transaction is also expected to lead to cost savings of at least $200 million to be realised by the end of 2013, Pfizer noted. The deal, which is expected to close later in this quarter or in the first quarter of 2011, will not impact Pfizer’s 2010 annual guidance or its financial targets for 2012.

Joel Levington of Brookfield Investment Management said that the “transaction should modestly help Pfizer’s growth profile in 2012 through 2013.” The analyst called King “a solid asset,” although he noted that Pfizer was paying “a somewhat elevated price” for the company.