Health and Healthcare

Pfizer Pays a Big Premium for Medivation

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In one of the longest running bidding wars in recent times, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) has finally reeled in cancer-drug maker Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) for a whopping $81.50 a share in cash. That works out to about $14 billion, over 50% more than Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) was willing to pay back in May.

We ran down the list of potential buyers last week, and the closest analyst estimate for Medivation’s price was $80 at Barclays. The analysts called that the “upside case,” while putting a target price of $70 on the stock. This for a company with total revenues of $943 million in 2015 and estimates for $907 million in 2016 and $1.75 billion in 2017.

According to the announcement, a Pfizer subsidiary will commence a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares at $81.50 per share in cash. Pfizer said that it expects the deal to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2016. The press release did not include details on how the acquisition would be financed.

Pfizer said the acquisition will add about $0.05 per share to earnings in the first full year after closing and the drug giant does not expect the acquisition to affect its current guidance for 2016.

A $150 billion deal for Allergan PLC (NYSE: AGN) was terminated when the federal government made it clear that the tie-up with Pfizer would be carefully scrutinized under new rules intended to make tax inversion deals less advantageous.

Pfizer Chairman and CEO Ian Read said:

The proposed acquisition of Medivation is expected to immediately accelerate revenue growth and drive overall earnings growth potential for Pfizer. The addition of Medivation will strengthen Pfizer’s Innovative Health business and accelerate its pathway to a leadership position in oncology, one of our key focus areas, which we believe will drive greater growth and scale of that business over the long-term. This transaction is another example of how we are effectively deploying our capital to generate attractive returns and create shareholder value.

Medivation’s stock closed at $67.16 on Friday and traded up more than 20% in Monday’s premarket session at $80.66. The stock’s 52-week range is $26.41 to $68.37 and the consensus price target had been $67.00.

Pfizer shares traded down about 0.3%, at $34.88 in a 52-week range of $28.25 to $37.39. The consensus price target on Pfizer stock is $39.35.

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