Pfizer Inc has announced its largest debt offering to date, raising $31 billion to finance its proposed acquisition of Seagen Inc. The move follows rival Abbvie Inc’s $30 billion debt offering in 2019 to finance its $63 billion buyout of Botox maker Allergan.
The debt offering, which is expected to close on May 19, will be in eight tranches and will have a yield to maturity of 125 basis points higher than the benchmark risk-free U.S. 10-year Treasury. BofA Securities, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are the joint lead managers and joint book-running managers for the offering.
The move comes as Pfizer prepares for a steep fall in COVID-19 sales and generic competition for some top-selling drugs. The company has been pumping billions of dollars into research and acquisitions to mitigate an anticipated $17-billion hit to revenue by 2030.