AstraZeneca has rejected a sweetened $117 billion takeover offer from Pfizer as too low, saying the bid fails to reflect the value of the United Kingdom drugmaker´s pipeline of experimental medicines.
The proposal, which Pfizer said was a final offer, would present risks for shareholders and harm science in the UK, Sweden and the United States, AstraZeneca said in a statement today.
Pfizer had said it didn´t expect AstraZeneca to accept the new cash-and-stock offer, which values the London-based company at £55 (Dh339.85) a share, and is made up of 45 per cent cash.
On May 2, New York-based Pfizer offered £50 pounds a share, following a previous bid made in January. Pfizer said the new offer would be its last under the current process, and that it won´t take
its bid hostile and attempt to woo AstraZeneca´s shareholders directly.
With a deal, Pfizer would transfer its headquarters to the UK to gain a lower tax rate, add new cancer drugs to its pipeline and take advantage of cost cuts from company overlaps.
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