If PFE can't close the AZ deal by the end of May, they will acquire Mallinckrodt for its Dublin HQ address and the tax inversion angle that will save them 15% over the US tax rate on corporate profits. PFE wants to get their hands on AZ's oncology portfolio and pipeline while wringing out billions more by gutting AZ, then splitting Pfizer into 3 entities similar to Abbott/Abvie. If they can not buy AZ, they can still get the tax benefits by acquiring Mallinckrodt for less than 5% of what it would cost to get AZ-$105 to $110 billion. Mallinckrodt's pain portfolio of Pennsaid 2% for OA of knees would offset some of the sting with Celebrex going generic. Their Xartemis XR for acute pain has tremendous upside potential as does their Acthar gel that comes with their buyout of Questcor. Mylan has their eyes on Mallinckrodt for its Irish HQ, so PFE will have to move quickly.
The Mallinckrodt pain portfolio would dovetail with Pfizer pain lineup, especially Ofirmev that they got buying Cadence. It's an easy pickup for under $10 billion. The ballsy move would be to pick up Mallinckrodt and Shire and block any other pharma competitor from acquiring an Irish tax haven.
Yes, Mallinckrodt is actually too small relative to the size of PFE to qualify for a reverse merger. The market cap of the acquisition needs to be at least 20% of PFE.
Not true. Picking off MNK would be like stopping at seven eleven for a snack. The value is in picking up Dublin HQ.
To change legal domicile to Britain and get the tax advantages they need to acquire a company there that is more than 20% of the market cap of PFE.
Why not GSK? Keep Calm and Carry On...to London. Because when Pfizer's Brooklyn bridge is falling down, I got a bridge to sell you in London!