AstraZeneca rejects bid: European stocks mixed

European equities closed mixed on Monday, with London hit after AstraZeneca rejected Pfizer’s final takeover bid, while Frankfurt and Paris rose. London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies gave up 0.16 per cent to close lower at 6,844.55 points. Frankfurt’s Dax 30 however gained 0.31 per cent to 9,659.39 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris ended the day up 0.3 per cent at 4,469.76 points, compared with Friday’s closing values. Italian stocks however plunged more than 3.0 per cent at one stage, with banks leading a slump that was mainly owing to technical reasons related to dividend pay-outs. Milan’s FTSE Mib index later closed at 20,319 points, down 1.60 per cent. The euro edged up against the dollar, with dealers saying that traders were on the sidelines in the absence of big economic indicators. In London, British drug-maker AstraZeneca topped the fallers board. The group’s shares tumbled by up to 15 per cent after the company rejected Pfizer’s improved $117-billion (85-billion-euro) bid pitched at £55 per share. The announcement appeared to put an end to the long-running saga after Pfizer described its latest bid as its ‘final’ bid on Sunday. ‘The biggest story on Monday was without doubt AstraZeneca’s decision to reject Pfizer’s ‘final offer’ to buy the company, after it valued the company’s shares at £55 each, around £3 short of what the board would consider,’ said analyst Craig Erlam at Alpari traders. ‘Clearly, with Pfizer labelling this their final offer for the company, the deal now appears to be dead in the water and AstraZeneca shares are suffering as a result,’ he observed. The stock later pulled back slightly to stand at £42.98, down 10.89pc from Friday’s close, according to AFP.