Despite months-long discussions, talks could still fall apart, reports the Financial Times.
UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is reportedly in talks to merge with US-based Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to form the world’s fourth-largest pharmaceutical company at combined market capitalisation of $400bn.
The talks were first reported by the Financial Times over the weekend, which said that merger discussions have been ongoing for months, but could still be pushed out or cancelled altogether.
AstraZeneca’s shares closed down more than 6pc on Monday (3 July) night. BMS shares were up marginally at market close yesterday.
Despite being valued at around $181.5bn, AstraZeneca’s size is a far cry from the Indianapolis-headquartered Eli Lilly – the world’s largest pharmaceutical company valued at more than $1trn.
