Does Pfizer Have a ‘Plan B’ to Save the Company’s Share Value?

Does Pfizer Have a “Plan B” to Save the Company’s Share Value? (Bloomberg)

With Pfizer Inc.’s (PFE) proposed acquisition of AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) more in doubt than ever before, CEO Ian Read may be forced to break up PFE. That’s how heavily Read was banking on harvesting a triple-play of benefits through the deal with AZN. Had it gone through, Pfizer would have benefitted from the United Kingdom’s lower tax rate, significant cost savings and access to a new line of cancer drugs. Read’s “Plan B?” The same as it was before the proposed, then scuttled deal with AstraZeneca: break up Pfizer and sell off the pieces. That would be a fairly inglorious end to what was once the world’s biggest drugmaker and could crush the value of shares held by PFE investors.