SC order to expedite pending merger of Pharmacia with Pfizer

Pradeep Rane
22 September 2003

Mumbai: The recent Supreme Court order in the Parke Davis-Pfizer merger case will expedite the pending merger of Pharmacia with Pfizer (India).

The apex court had recently approved the merger of Parke Davis with Pfizer at the earlier declared merger ratio of 1:2.25. The SC also turned down an appeal filed against the merger by some Parke-Davis shareholders.

"We believe that the removal of this uncertainty will lead to a re-rating of the Pfizer stock, says a leading analyst from ASK Raymond James. A report by the firm has said that apart from Pfizer, stocks of other MNC (multinational companies) subsidiaries will also be re-rated (like GSK Pharma, which will amalgamate Burroughs Wellcome with itself).

The court order is in favour of the management of the company. The merger has been pending for the past one year as some Parke-Davis shareholders had filed a case, claiming an unfavourable merger ratio. Because of this, the company did not release last year''s (2002) annual report (November ending) and its last two quarterly performances.

Once the legal matter is settled, the management could concentrate on business development. Further, the management can also move faster in the pending merger with Pharmacia, according to the report. As the stock has been a clear under-performer because of the merger uncertainty, it should now, after the SC''s decision, be re-rated, it added.

This development will also lead to valuation re-rating for other MNC subsidiaries such as GSK Pharma. The latter is expected to go through the merger with Burroughs Wellcome.