Thursday, December 06, 2012

Wyzer or Pfyeth? (Whatever...)

Pfizer’s bid for Wyeth makes sense; but it suffers from the fundamental problem with M&As – high risk!

Abuyout offer? Nothing new about it... Recession? Again, not a new occurence... Now, combine the two and there you have your eyes opened, and wide! And here’s Pfizer proving why both can coexist, through its $68 billion bid for Wyeth. In the name of cost synergies, Pfizer hopes to save $4 billion annually in operational costs via streamlining of activities. But as researches over time have proven, most big-ticket M&As have failed to generate any synergy! So here’s the question – is the deal logical?

Pfizer faces a major challenge of new drug development as its patent for Lipitor (that contributed to $6 billion in FY2008) will expire in November 2011. And that gives a ‘real’ reason for the merger – revenue generation! Wyeth’s core competence is in R&D. About 350 scientists in its labs are solely working on the much-awaited drug formulae for treating Alzheimer’s disease that can become the next drug wonder for Pfizer (generating revenues up to $20 billion annually). Currently, every major drug company is working on a drug to treat Alzheimer’s, and Wyeth having already invested more than $1 billion in the same, naturally gives Pfizer an automatic lead. Then there are other drugs that would fall into Pfizer’s basket through the deal, like Enbrel (an arthritis drug) that earned $3.8 billion in revenues for Wyeth during 2008, Prevnar (pediatric vaccine) that generated $3 billion in 2008, Xyntha (a hemophilia treating drug) that could help garner $1 billion in 2009. Naturally, it is revenues that entices Pfizer more! Commenting on the deal, David Lugg, Credit Analyst, S&P, quotes, “The company will reap the benefits of scale and be able to reduce costs. But revenues look more appealing a reason...” Credit Suisse also upgraded Pfizer’s stock status from “Neutral” to “Outperform” based on the merits of the deal. (In fact, Credit Suisse had long recommended a deal between the two.)


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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