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For a copy of the Pfizer press release announcing its plans, and for links to related statements and other reports, see

Note: Pfizer has been represented on the Forum's Advisory Panel that proposed principles for shared management and investor interests in equity-based compensation practices.

 

 

Bloomberg, June 28, 2007 article

 
 
Pfizer Will Start Meetings With Largest Investors (Update3)

By Shannon Pettypiece

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., whose shares have lost nearly a quarter of their value in the past three years, said it will become the first company to hold regular meetings between its directors and largest shareholders to discuss executive pay and management practices.

The first meeting will be in the third quarter with about 30 investors who together hold 35 percent of the New York-based company's shares, said Pfizer spokesman Andy McCormick in a telephone interview today. Pfizer's top shareholders include Barclays Global Investors Ltd., State Street Corp. and Vanguard Group Inc., according to data complied by Bloomberg.

Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, has been trying to restore investor confidence as its shares have fallen. The company is struggling to find new drugs to replace the $21 billion in annual revenue analysts expect it to lose to generic competition by 2011.

``Given the share price performance, it is probably prudent to at least sit down and explain to your shareholders where you are going,'' said Les Funtleyder, a health care analyst with Miler Tabak & Co. in New York, which doesn't own Pfizer shares. ``I would assume there is certainly investor discontent over the fact the shares haven't responded too much to the changes the company has been making.''

Pfizer's shares fell 3 cents to $25.58 at 11:03 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have lost 2 percent since the company ousted chief executive officer Hank McKinnell on July 28 to help quell investor discontent.

Jobs Slashed

McKinnell's replacement, Jeffrey Kindler, has announced plans to slash 10,000 jobs, or 10 percent of Pfizer's workforce, in his first year in the job to save money and speed drug discovery. He is also seeking replacements for the company's chief financial officer and head of research.

Kindler has had a better rapport with investors and analysts than McKinnell, analysts say. Still, Pfizer has had major research setbacks in the past year, including ending development of the cholesterol pill torcetrapib. The drug, its most promising experimental treatment, had been expected to generate more than $13 billion in annual revenue.

Pfizer will likely hold the meetings annually, McCormick said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Greene in Washington at rgreene2@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: June 28, 2007 11:30 EDT
 

 

 

 

 

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