Next Monday is the deadline for a deal for Pfizer to buy AstraZeneca Photo: Getty
James Ashton
19 May 2014
Despite a spirited defence, every observer I spoke to - from chief executive to investment banker - thought AstraZeneca was a goner.
Over the weekend, the board even named its price. Whatever concerns it had over disruption to its drug-development programme, £59 per share would have got Astra to the table.
Pfizer, which has a record of destroying shareholder value on an heroic scale, fell just £5 billion short. The plunging share price suggests today that the game is over, but investors don’t seem wholly satisfied with the outcome.
Now it’s a fight to the finish before next Monday’s deadline.