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WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. - Johnson & Johnson walked away with the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare business last month for $16.6 billion cash. The deal placed the value of the Pfizer unit at approximately 4.3 times sales. Pfizer and J&J expect to close the transaction by year's end.
The move catapults J&J into the No. 1 position worldwide as far as OTC suppliers with a combined $13 billion in sales. "The use of OTC medicines is growing rapidly in both mature and emerging markets as consumers taxe greater responsibility for their health care decision-making and look for ways to control costs," Bill Weldon, J&J's chairman and chief executive officer, told analysts during a conference call last month. "This combination creates the world's premier consumer health care company," he stated.
And wnile the morphing of two large OTC portfolios suggests divestiture opportunities for smaller OTC players, J&J is hoping to keep all of its Pfizer brands. "Right now, we don't believe that there will be any difficulty in obtaining ... approvals [from the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission]," commented Colleen Goggins, worldwide chairman of the consumer and...