British drugs company AztraZeneca has rejected a “final” takeover offer from US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer.<br /><br />AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson said: “Pfizer has failed to make a compelling strategic, business or value case.”<br /><br />The rebuff came just hours after Pfizer raised its offer. The sweetened deal valued the UK firm at around £70 billion pounds (approximately 51 billion euros).<br /><br />Pfizer had planned to create the world’s largest drugs company through the deal. It had planned to headquarter the merged firm in the US, but, controversially, with a tax base in the UK.<br /><br />Erik Gordon, Professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, opined on the deal: “It died of multiple wounds. Too little cash, too many suspicions about Pfizer’s motives, and too little confidence in its assurances about jobs.”<br /><br />AztraZeneca’s shares tumbled 13 percent in late morning trade as prospects of a takeover ebbed away.
