LONDON, Dec 14 — Shares in British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca slumped today on investor doubts over a gigantic US$39 billion (RM158 billion) purchase of US biotech firm Alexion, analysts said.
AstraZeneca, which is finalising a vaccine against Covid-19, announced the vast acquisition on Saturday in order to boost its work on immunology.
The blockbuster transaction is the largest M&A deal in the global pharmaceutical sector since the start of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
In early afternoon London deals, the company’s share price dived 6.9 per cent to 7,595 pence. That made AstraZeneca the biggest faller on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 stocks index, which rose 0.3 perc ent on hopes of a Brexit trade agreement.
Both the boards of Alexion and AstraZeneca agreed to the deal, which values Alexion at US$175 a share—a premium of 45 per cent to the Boston-based company’s closing price on Friday.
“You would think AstraZeneca could do without any distractions as it looks to address some of the scepticism which has built up around the Covid vaccine developed in partnership with Oxford University,” said Russ Mould, investment director at online broker AJ Bell.
“Perhaps that’s why the market has taken exception to its US$39-billion cash-and-shares bid for US biotech Alexion, with the company also taking on lots of debt to fund the deal.
“Alexion has failed to attract a suitor for some time, despite shareholder pressure, so investors might see AstraZeneca as a bit of a sap for pitching up with a 45-per cent premium.
“It is also an immunology-focused business which will stick out like a sore thumb against the rest of AstraZeneca’s portfolio.”
Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson added that shares sank “seemingly on fears (that) it’s paying too much”.
But Wilson added that the high price tag was “probably not that significant when you consider the sector and the cash flow generation and revenue growth that it will bring”.
Since taking the helm at AstraZeneca in 2012, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot has pushed the group into lucrative treatments such as cancer therapies, and the Alexion takeover will give it more heft in areas such as treating blood disorders.
Along with researchers from the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca has developed an effective Covid-19 vaccine which the UK government plans to use as the lynchpin of its inoculation drive, after first rolling out another vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech.
However, approval of the AstraZeneca/Oxford drug has been held up after queries over its initial trial results.
Last Tuesday, the UK partners became the first Covid-19 vaccine makers to publish final-stage clinical trial data in a scientific journal, clearing a key hurdle. — AFP
