Pfizer Inc. decided not to pursue a strategy of breaking into two separate companies after an “extensive evaluation.”
The board and an executive team decided the U.S. drugmaker is “best positioned to maximize future shareholder value creation in its current structure and will not pursue splitting Pfizer Innovative Health and Pfizer Essential Health into two, separate publicly traded companies at this time,” Pfizer (IW 500/22) said in a statement on Monday.
Investors have been waiting for a decision since 2012, when Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts suggested the company was heading down that path. Pfizer has separated some operations internally, and breaks out separate financial results for what it calls its Innovative Health and Essential Health units.
The decision doesn’t affect the financial guidance for 2016, which Pfizer reaffirmed. Both units have delivered solid year-over-year performance over the course of the past three years, demonstrating their ability to compete on a standalone basis, Pfizer said.
By Marthe Fourcade
