Pfizer Buys King Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer agreed to buy King Pharmaceuticals the world's 39th largest pharmaceutical company, is based in Bristol, Tennessee for $3.6 billion in cash.Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will begin a tender offer in which it will pay $14.25 a share in cash, a 40 percent premium to King Pharmaceuticals’s Monday closing stock price.

Through the deal, Pfizer expects to increase its exposure to the pain medication market, a business that is expected to grow as the population ages. King focuses on making pain drugs that have mechanisms designed to prevent abuse.

King produces a wide range of pharmaceuticals, including Altace for heart attack prevention, Levoxyl for hypothyroidism, Sonata, a sleeping aid, and Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant. King Pharmaceuticals currently operates manufacturing facilities in Bristol, Tennessee, Rochester, Michigan, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Petersburg, Florida, and Middleton, Wisconsin.