Pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer announced today that it would spend $68 billion to acquire rival Wyeth in one of the largest pharmaceuticals buyouts on record. Pfizer said that the deal would consist mostly of cash and stock shares, but that it was also pursuing $22.5 billion in bank financing to cover the deal.
Pfizer has offered to pay a total of $50.19/share for Wyeth, a 29 percent premium, according to the Journal. Wyeth shares were valued around $38.50/share before news of the merger talks broke last week.
Despite going forward with the deal, Pfizer has certainly been healthier in the past. 2008 Q4 income for the pharmaceuticals company dropped 90 percent in light of $2.3 billion in litigation expenses, which led the company to announce a 10 percent cut in its workforce. Pfizer has already fired over 15,000 employees since 2007.
The merger between the two companies will certainly lead to further job cuts as the two pharmaceuticals manufacturers work to consolidate their processes. The two companies combined produce 17 unique products that generate over $1 billion in annual sales.
The deal is the largest pharmaceutical buyout since Glaxo Wellcome’s acquisition of SmithKline Beecham in 2000 for $76 billion.