Pfizer Inc. hopes to close its $68 billion deal to buy Wyeth by the end of 2009. To get there it will have to pass muster with antitrust regulators and credit agencies. Then the real work of integration begins. In this edition of Inside the Deal, Robbert Van Batenburg, head of equity research for Louis Capital Markets, tells Suzanne Stevens that the stakes for both companies are high. But with its patent on the blockbuster Lipitor set to expire in 2010 and a limited pipeline to offset the loss, the risks of the deal collapsing would be particularly damaging for Pfizer.
I think this merger would be a great move for both companies. I, for one, hope the deal goes through without too much trouble.