27th May 2014 05:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - US drugmaker Pfizer Inc on Monday abandoned its pursuit to buy AstraZeneca PLC, saying it does not plan to make an offer for the British drugmaker following the rejection of its final proposal last week.
In a statement released Monday, Ian Read, Chairman and Chief Executive of Pfizer, said, "We continue to believe that our final proposal was compelling and represented full value for AstraZeneca based on the information that was available to us. As we said from the start, the pursuit of this transaction was a potential enhancement to our existing strategy."
Leif Johansson, Chairman of AstraZeneca, said, "We note Pfizer's confirmation that it no longer intends to make an offer for AstraZeneca. We welcome the opportunity to continue building on the momentum we have already demonstrated as an independent company.
AstraZeneca shares closed 1.24% higher at 4,328.00 pence in London.
New York-based Pfizer last week raised its offer for London-based AstraZeneca for a third time this year to USD69.3 billion pounds or USD116.6 billion, but AstraZeneca once again rejected that offer stating it undervalues the company and its attractive prospects.
Pfizer had then warned AstraZeneca that it would not further increase its offer or go hostile.
Under UK takeover rules, Pfizer had to make a firm offer for AstraZeneca by 5 p.m. London local time on Monday. Now Pfizer will not be able to launch a takeover bid for AstraZeneca for six months.
Pfizer, the maker of cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor and erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, had been offering to buy AstraZeneca since early January, but AstraZeneca has repeatedly rejected Pfizer's offers.
Pfizer, which is trying to augment its prodct pipeline following expiration of patents of its key drugs, is said to be sitting on a huge cash hoard in its overseas subsidiaries that it can utilize for a major acquisition.
The combination of Pfizer and AstraZeneca would have become the biggest ever merger in the history of drug industry and would have helped Pfizer retain its position as the world's biggest drugmaker.
Pfizer has made some big acquisitions in the past, including Warner-Lambert in 2000, Pharmacia Corp. in 2003 and Wyeth in 2009.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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