Pfizer Prices $31 Billion Debt Offering to Fund Seagen Acquisition

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Pharmaceutical giant

Pfizer

has priced the $31 billion debt offering it will use to fund its big bet on

Seagen
,
the biotech group it agreed to acquire in what would be its biggest takeover since 2009.

Pfizer

(ticker: PFE) announced pricing Tuesday for eight tranches of notes—maturing between 2025 and 2063, with each tranche worth $3 billion to $6 billion—to fund its acquisition of

Seagen

(SGEN). The yields on the notes, which will be issued by a wholly owned investment subsidiary and fully guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by Pfizer, range from 4.45% for the 2026 and 2028 tranche to 5.34% for the 2063 tranche.

The company expects the offering to close on May 19.

The pharma titan announced that it would buy the cancer-focused biotech in March in a cash deal worth $43 billion—but, as Barron’s has reported, the deal faces risks, including from an increasingly tough regulatory backdrop for healthcare deals. 

Other than any issuance of 10-year and 30-year notes, the debt is expected to be subject to a special mandatory redemption at 101% of the aggregate principal under certain circumstances if the merger is terminated or doesn’t close by an agreed-to date.

Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]