Pfizer Flexes Muscle With Priciest Purchase of Decade

Pfizer has been on the prowl for a major acquisition.

Photograph: Pfizer via AP Photo
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Pfizer Inc. is proving that when it sees something it wants, it’s willing to pay up.

The company is buying injectable-medicine maker Hospira Inc. for about $17 billion, or $90 a share, a price that Hospira’s stock has never come close to on its own. In turn, Pfizer gains a steadily growing business to tack onto its established drugs unit that it has discussed spinning off.