A Reuters report said a Pfizer purchase of Bayer could be complicated since the company would have to break up Bayer's chemical-drugs combo. Nonetheless, Pfizer is a highly acquisitive company with a penchant for transformative megadeals like its acquisitions of Pharmacia and Warner-Lambert. However, it hasn't made any major purchases in a few years, and its blockbuster cholesterol fighter Lipitor goes off patent in 2011 -- perhaps these developments are feeding the speculation it will bid on Bayer. - Maria Woehr
Takeover rumors of Bayer AG by New York-based Pfizer Inc. boosted shares of the German drugs and chemicals group Tuesday morning. 
