Wyeth shareholders agree to Pfizer merger; deal to close by year-end

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., July 20 - Wyeth said its stockholders overwhelmingly approved a merger agreement with Pfizer Inc. on Monday.

The agreement gives Wyeth stockholders $33 per share in cash plus 0.985 of a share of Pfizer common stock for each Wyeth share held.

"Combined with Pfizer, we see opportunities for increased scale where needed and resources to become the world's premier biopharmaceutical company and an industry leader in human, consumer and animal healthcare, in both disease prevention and treatment," Wyeth chairman, president and chief executive officer Bernard Poussot said in a company news release.

The companies expect the merger to close at the end of the third quarter or during the fourth quarter of this year.

Pfizer announced previously that while the proposed merger had received approval from the European Commission, Pfizer would divest a number of businesses in several national markets as well as Wyeth's manufacturing facility in Sligo, Ireland, to ease the commission's competition concerns.

The pharmaceutical giants agreed in January to combine in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $50.19 per share, or a total of approximately $68 billion.

Wyeth, located in Madison, N.J., will become a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Pfizer.

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