Pfizer Animal Health to change name to Zoetis, prepares for IPO

Executives have begun the registration process for a 2013 initial public offering for Pfizer Animal Health, which will be known as Zoetis (pronounced zō-EH-tis). Zoetis would continue to operate under Pfizer's financial reporting processes.

Pfizer's chairman and chief executive, Ian Read, told Reuters in March that Pfizer Animal Health was more likely to spin off than be sold. Reporters at the time said potential buyers had made offers to Pfizer for its animal-health division, which brought in $4.2 billion in revenue in 2011.

“We are on track to create a standalone animal health company by our previously stated target of July 2013,” says Read in the announcement.As for the spinoff company's new name, its roots lie in a prefix associated with animals as well as a reference to life, according to a Pfizer spokesperson.

“The name Zoetis has its root in zo, which is familiar in commonly known words such as zoo and zoology,” says a spokesperson. “It derives from zoetic, meaning ‘pertaining to life,' and signals the company's dedication to improving the health of animals across species and around the world.”

More details on the IPO will come in this year's second-quarter earnings announcement July 31, 2012.