Pfizer Inc posted videos online on Saturday in its latest effort to win over critics of its proposed purchase of British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC.
In four videos on Pfizer’s Web site, CEO Ian Read sought to allay concerns that the deal would lead to a loss of stature in science in the UK. He said Pfizer had expanded its research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and envisions pursuing a similar strategy for Britain’s Cambridge, north of London, where many scientists work.
Pfizer has been trying to buy its British rival since January, but has been rebuffed three times.
AstraZeneca has said Pfizer’s latest offer of US$106 billion in cash and stock undervalues the company and that a takeover would disrupt its work on a potentially lucrative pipeline of new drugs.
The proposed deal would be the largest foreign takeover of a British company. It has drawn scrutiny from politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who fear a loss of jobs.
The deal would include Pfizer moving its official domicile — but not its corporate offices — to London. That would reduce Pfizer’s income tax rate, because US rates are considerably higher than those in the UK.
Earlier this month, Pfizer sent a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron promising to keep at least 20 percent of the combined company’s research and development staff in the UK. The letter also called the “golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London” — where the bulk of British scientific research is based — a vital component of the deal.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
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