According to the Svenska Dagbaldet
After AstraZeneca today rejected Pfizer’s latest bid of nearly 770 billion kronor, it looks like no deal for this year But in its written response to the bid Astra Zeneca’s board writes that it is prepared to negotiate with Pfizer if the bid is raised by ten percent.
So I suspect that it may be better for shareholders in AstraZeneca to sit tight and wait for the next bid – but it may take a few months. In the worst case, holding on to an independent AstraZeneca is not such a bad deal in the long run.
I have been a little amused with the conservative politicians in Sweden and the UK abandoning their “free market” principles and invoking the “public interest” to oppose the deal. But unless they can convert their concern for the “public interest” into something tangible for AstraZeneca shareholders, they are doing them a disservice. In fact I would argue that without acknowledging that the AstraZeneca shareholder interests are also a public interest to be protected, both Cameron’s government and Reinfeldt’s government are engaging in an extra-legal, repressive and discriminatory behaviour.
Needless to say the Left and the Communists are opposed to the deal on religious grounds because rationalisation – if it leads to the loss of any jobs and even redundant jobs – is always a great SIN.
The k2p blog 