Pfizer,Wyeth deal nears: Reports

On the funding of the deal,the ‘Wall Street Journal’ said that Pfizer has secured USD 22.5 billion loan from banks and plans to use stock and its cash reserves to fund the rest of the transaction.

“Pfizer is expected to offer Wyeth shareholders USD 50.19 per share,paying USD 33 a share in cash and USD 0.985 a share in Pfizer stock,” the Journal stated.

Quoting people familiar with the matter,the WSJ said: “A group of five banks – Goldman Sachs Group,Bank of America,JP Morgan Chase,Barclays Capital and Citigroup – have each agreed to provide USD 4.5 billion in financing.”

Pfizer’s products include the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor and the erectile stimulant Viagra.

The deal would make Pfizer,already the world’s biggest drug maker by revenue,even bigger with a product line that includes everything from Advil pain medication to Centrum vitamins and Lipitor,a cholesterol drug,it added.

“The deal would not only create a pharmaceutical behemoth but would be a rarity in the current financial tumult: a big acquisition that is not a desperate merger of two banks orchestrated by the government,” the NYT said.

The New York-based Pfizer employs 83,400 people,has slashed 15,000 jobs since January 2007 and is preparing to cut thousands more in the coming months. Wyeth,based in New Jersey,counts 46,000 employees.