By Anne Steele

Pfizer Inc. said Monday it would buy Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc. in an all-cash deal worth about $4.5 billion, as it turns to smaller deals after walking away from its scuttled acquisition of Allergan PLC.

Pfizer will pay $99.25 a share for Anacor, a 55% premium to Friday's closing price. The companies said the deal, including debt, is valued at $5.2 billion.

Last month, Pfizer and Allergan terminated their planned $150 billion merger after the Obama administration took aim at the deal that would have moved the biggest drug company in the U.S. to Ireland to lower its taxes. Since then, Pfizer has been looking for deals of its own.

On Monday, the companies said Palo Alto-based Anacor will be a "strong fit" with New York-based Pfizer's inflammation and immunology portfolio. Anacor has no products on the market, but its flagship asset, crisaborole, is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of eczema.

Pfizer said it thinks sales of that drug could bit or exceed $2 billion. Anacor also holds the rights to Kerydin, a topical treatment for toenail fungus is distributed in the U.S. by Sandoz Inc.

Pfizer said the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter, won't impact its guidance for the year. It said it anticipates the deal will hurt adjusted earnings slightly in 2017 and add to them beginning in 2018.

Pfizer shares were inactive premarket while Anacor shares, which have slipped 43% this year, added 54% to $98.70. Pfizer's purchase price is roughly where Anacor traded in January before lingering in the $60s the past several months.

Post-Allergan, Pfizer is looking for acquisitions to boost its revenue and growth, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The pharmaceutical giant must also find a new way to put its new-drugs business on firmer ground if it is to go independent, some analysts have said.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 16, 2016 07:56 ET (11:56 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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