AstraZeneca on brink of victory as Pfizer deadline set to expire

The battle for AstraZeneca looks set to end in a short-term victory for the British pharmaceuticals company’s management, who appear to have successfully beaten off approaches from US rival Pfizer.

The Takeover Panel’s deadline of 5pm on Monday for Pfizer to make a firm offer or give up on its takeover campaign seems set to pass without any movement from the American group, meaning it will have to walk away for up to six months.

Pfizer said a week ago that it was willing to pay almost £70bn for the FTSE 100-listed drugs giant in a 45:55 mixture of cash and shares, but the British company, under chief executive Pascal Soriot, batted the approach away as an “inadequate” proposal.

A source familiar with the situation said that AstraZeneca’s share price decline at the end of last week indicated the market thought the deal was over.

The shares jumped when news first broke in late April that the two companies had met in secret in January, talks which resulted in a £59bn private offer for Astra. Public confirmation of Pfizer’s interest drove them even higher, peaking at £48.45 in early May, about 20pc up on the level before news of the potential deal emerged.