Six-month cooling-off period comes to an end for Astrazeneca and Smith & Nephew bidders
This week will see the end of the six-month cooling-off periods that followed the takeover bids made for healthcare groups Astrazeneca and Smith & Nephew.
AstraZeneca
12,050.00p
16:49 03/05/24
FTSE 100
8,213.49
16:59 03/05/24
Smith & Nephew
996.80p
16:49 03/05/24
This means that their respective suitors will once again have the opportunity to put in another offer.
Stryker, the US orthopaedic group that earlier this year made an offer for FTSE 100 listed Smith & Nephew, is believed to still be interested in making another offer for the joint replacement group at some point in early 2015.
Such a move looks far less likely for Pfizer, which in May had its £69bn offer for Astrazeneca rejected after the blue chip's board said the bid fell short of its view of the company's value.
The value of Astra's stock has climbed more than 10% in the past six months, meaning if it did choose to put forward another proposal, Pfizer would most likely have to significantly up its offer.