TEVA Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd

Pfizer Inc. and Allergan PLC on Wednesday said federal regulators are seeking more information on their pending merger deal, a so-called inversion that would create the world's biggest drugmaker and move one of the top names in corporate America to a foreign country.

The request from the Federal Trade Commission was "fully anticipated as part of the regulatory process," the companies said. They still expect the deal to close in the second of this year.

Pfizer and Allergan agreed in November to merge in what would be the largest inversion ever—the deal was worth more than $150 billion when struck, but the overall value has declined since as Pfizer's share price has fallen. Such deals enable a U.S. company to move abroad and take advantage of a lower corporate tax rate elsewhere, and have remained popular in the face of U.S. efforts to curb them.

To help secure that lower tax rate, the deal will be technically structured as a reverse merger, with Dublin-based Allergan, which is smaller, buying New York-based Pfizer.

The deal remains subject to the expiration of the waiting period under antitrust law, regulatory approval in other jurisdictions including the European Union, approval from both Pfizer and Allergan shareholders, and the completion of Allergan's pending divestiture of its generics business to Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.

Shares of Pfizer and Allergan were up 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively, in afternoon trading.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 30, 2016 13:35 ET (17:35 GMT)

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