Pfizer Merger Is Just Speculation

Oh, Financial Times, you naughty little tease. You got us all in a dither by talking about how Pfizer(PFE Quote) is in hot pursuit of another huge drug company, jumping to conclusions and assumptions along the way. And, of course, a passel of business media followed your lead.

Here's how the ugly situation started: The Financial Times ran an article on Sunday called "Pfizer eyes merger deal with large rival."

With a headline like that, you'd figure there'd be something specific behind it, such as a particular company Pfizer was eyeing and presumably in advanced talks with. But no such luck. The headline was built on a foundation of nothing more than this little quote from Jeff Kindler, Pfizer's chief executive: "The real goal is to grow revenues. ... We are open to opportunities and constantly looking at those which are big, small and in between."

So Pfizer is apparently open to the concept of an acquisition -- but what is this "large rival" the headline refers to?

Predictably, other business media outlets soon weighed in, not to temper the Financial Times' misplaced enthusiasm but to echo the overreaction in the same language.

Look at this CNBC headline: "Pfizer Mulls Big Rival Acquisition: Report." And the lead: "Pharmaceutical heavyweight Pfizer is mulling buying a large drug company to improve its financial health, bucking the trend among its peers, which have turned against the `mega-mergers' of the past, the Financial Times reported on its Web site."

But the Financial Times did not limit its expectations-raising damage to Pfizer. Even without a specific Pfizer merger in the works, the FT reported that "any large-scale acquisition by Pfizer could drive a fresh round of consolidation in the sector, as other companies await the U.S. group's move before responding with deals of their own."