Pfizer withdraws AstraZeneca bid

27th May 2014 06:45

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has called an end to its pursuit of AstraZeneca after continued rejections from the Anglo-Swedish rival.Pfizer had until May 26th to further improve its latest £55-a-share bid, though it had already said that this was its "final proposal".The offer, which valued the London-listed group at £69bn, was said to be only a "minor improvement" on the previous bid and "undervalues the company and its attractive prospects", according to a press release from AstraZeneca on May 19th."Following the AstraZeneca board's rejection of the proposal, Pfizer announces that it does not intend to make an offer for AstraZeneca," the US group said in a statement on Monday.Pfizer must now wait six months before making another bid, unless it is invited to do so by AstraZeneca itself.Pfizer's Chairman and Chief Executive Ian Read, said: "We continue to believe that our final proposal was compelling and represented full value for AstraZeneca based on the information that was available to us. As we said from the start, the pursuit of this transaction was a potential enhancement to our existing strategy."BC