Pfizer will find a way to strike deal at Astra, say advisers

AMERICAN drugs giant Pfizer will throw in the towel on its recent £69billion takeover bid for AstraZeneca tomorrow, but its advisers insist its hopes to take over the firm are not finished and it will ‘find a way’ to seal a deal.

Tomorrow is the last day of the bid timetable due to Takeover Panel rules and as Pfizer has already ruled out approaching shareholders directly or raising its offer from £55 per share, it has no other option but to walk away, barring any last-minute change of heart from the AstraZeneca board.

Under the rules, the US company must wait at least six months before resuming its interest in the firm, but AstraZeneca could, if it wished to, reignite talks after just three.

Several key shareholders, including fund managers BlackRock and Schroders, which between them own 10 per cent of the stock, have let it be known that they would support further talks.

A source close to proceedings told The Mail on Sunday that Pfizer believed there was a lot of support from shareholders to reach an agreement and that the US company had pledged to ‘find a way’ to make it happen.

It is thought that AstraZeneca management and pro-Pfizer shareholders wanted a substantially higher offer.

Meanwhile, British company Intercontinental Hotels Group is also reported to have received a £6billion takeover approach from an unnamed American buyer.

IHG is said to have rejected the approach and no active talks are currently under way. IHG declined to comment.

It is understood that, similar to Pfizer’s interest in AstraZeneca, the US hotel group is attracted to IHG because of the prospect of moving to the UK to cut its tax bill.