Topic: How To Invest

Spinoffs, Takeovers and Special Situations Hotline – Friday, August 9, 2019

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC., $36.35, symbol PFE on New York, is one of the world’s leading prescription drugmakers. Its top-selling brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis pain), Prevnar (pneumonia) and Enbrel (rheumatoid arthritis). On July 29, 2019, the company and Mylan NV (symbol MYL on Nasdaq) announced that Upjohn, Pfizer’s off-patent drugs business, would merge with generic drugmaker Mylan to create a global pharmaceutical company. Upon completion of the all-share deal, Pfizer shareholders will own 57% of the new company, and Mylan investors will hold the remaining 43%. Both Pfizer and Mylan’s board of directors unanimously approved the transaction. Earlier, Pfizer had explored spinning off Upjohn to its shareholders. Upjohn is based in Shanghai, and the listing would have been on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The partners have yet to come up with a name for the merged entity. They plan to do so when the deal closes in mid-2020. The merged entity will be headquartered in the U.S. and most likely trade on a..