American multinational Pfizer to buy Arena Pharmaceuticals for $6.7 bln

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc has agreed to acquire Arena Pharmaceuticals in a $6.7 billion all-cash deal to expand its cancer and inflammatory disease treatment pipeline, the companies said on Monday.

Pfizer will take over all outstanding shares of Arena for $100 per share, representing a 100.2% premium to Arena's last closing price.

Arena is developing several treatments for gastroenterology, dermatology, and cardiology. The drug developer's ulcerative colitis treatment candidate, etrasimod, is in a late-stage study.

Pfizer said it expects to finance the transaction with cash on hand.

Pfizer’s financial advisers for the transaction are BofA Securities and Centerview Partners LLC, while Guggenheim Securities LLC and Evercore Group LLC advised Arena.