AstraZeneca shareholders urged not to act on Pfizer’s €71bn bid

Britain’s AstraZeneca has urged its shareholders to take no action over the approach by US drugmaker Pfizer and said, yesterday, it remained confident in its independent strategy.

Pfizer said earlier yesterday it had made a £58.8bn (€71.3bn) bid approach to AstraZeneca in January and had contacted its British rival again on Saturday seeking further discussions about a takeover.

“In this discussion, the chairman of Pfizer did not make a specific proposal regarding an offer to acquire AstraZeneca,” Astra said yesterday.

The company said it had considered the request for talks, but without a specific and attractive proposal, it had deemed it inappropriate to engage in discussions with Pfizer.

“The board remains confident in the ongoing execution of AstraZeneca’s strategy as an independent company and that its successful delivery will create significant value for shareholders,” it added.

Pfizer CEO, Ian Read said it had contacted the British government yesterday, about its bid.

“We reached out to the UK government this morning. We’ve have some initial preliminary discussions. We want to have a conversation with the government about the excitement we have about combining these portfolios, the excitement we have about the strength of UK research.

“This combination, if it occurs, would create domiciled in the UK the largest pharmaceutical company in the world and would bring an injection of about $100bn (€71bn) into the UK economy.”

The suggested deal has triggered worries about jobs in Britain’s drug sector, viewed by the government as a key industry.

Mr Read said he saw Britain as an attractive location for pharmaceutical research and manufacturing — helped by recent government tax incentives — but could not make any firm commitments on future investment or jobs.

AstraZeneca shares yesterday soared 14% or 586.5p to a new record high of 4666.5p and have increased in value by around a quarter or £11bn since takeover speculation began last week.