Pfizer has raised $1bn from the sale of the infusion therapy business it acquired as part of its $15bn takeover of Hospira earlier this year.
The business unit – which produces pumps, infusion solutions and other devices – is being bought by ICU Medical, a specialist in infusion therapy. The deal will see Pfizer pick up $600m in cash as well as $400m in ICU Medical stock, which will give it a 16.6% stake in the company once the deal goes through.
Pfizer said in July it was thinking of selling the unit in order to retain its core focus on pharmaceuticals. The divestment comes in the midst of an acquisitive streak for the big pharma group – which has just completed a $14bn takeover of cancer specialist Medivation – and will top up cash reserves for other bolt-on deals.
Last week, Pfizer ended years of speculation that it would split its generic and in-patent medicines into two separate companies, saying that the disruption created by the move outweighed any benefits to cashflow or competitive position in the market.
The ICU Medical deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, said the two companies in a statement.
End of an era
Separately, Pfizer also confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal that it is planning to sell off its New York headquarters by the end of 2017 and move to another office building in Manhattan. The company’s HQ has been at the building in Midtown at 42nd Street and Second Avenue since 1961.
A company spokesman told the WSJ that it would take a significant investment in the current HQ to bring the building up to modern standards.
“In terms of capital deployment that is not where we want to focus,” she said. It intends to lease rather than buy a new headquarters.