Pfizer launches the offensive over AstraZeneca

The big British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company stands firm to Pfizer bids. The American pharmaceutical giant tried to take over the European corporation once again with no success.

Pfizer confirmed its interest over its rival company. The story started last year with an initial bid from the American side, but AstraZenece declined the offer. Pfizer made a daring move once again on Sunday, but it appears AstraZenece once again declined to engage.

If the takeover would finally reach closure it would turn out to be one of the biggest pharma deals ever made. Pfizer has a market value close to 90 billion US dollars. Pfizer was involved in a mammoth deal in 2000 when it acquired Warner-Lambert for 110 billion dollars. Now, the exact figure Pfizer is putting on AstraZeneca is unknown, but people close to the deal claim it's close to the 100 billion marker.

AstraZeneca is one of the biggest corporations in UK with just shy above 7,000 employees (50,000 all around the world). It is also responsible for more than 2 percent of UK exports alone. Analysts say Pfizer has put a target on AstraZeneca's back because of its high potential over cancer drugs.

Although in the last 6 to 10 months there were a few behemoth mergers like the 45 billion dollar bid for Allergan, the Botox maker, from Valeant and the 20 billion asset swap between Novartis and GalzoSmithKline, the Pfizer – AstraZeneca would be second to none.