Six songs that tell the story of Pfizer’s courtship of AstraZeneca

Earlier today, Astrazeneca officially rejected a second takeover approach from US rival Pfizer, saying the new terms of the £50 per share offer were "inadequate, substantially undervalue AstraZeneca and are not a basis on which to engage with Pfizer".

 

In honour of the increasingly complex relationship between the two pharma giants, we've compiled a playlist to help get you through the next few hours (days, weeks?) of the negotiations.

 

“They say everybody got different problems and that may be so, but there’s one problem that every one of us have….”

The inimitable Man in Black sings about how Pfizer’s fortunes would change if it could just flip its domicile and lower its tax rate, sort of:

 

Okay, so big pharma isn’t quite rocket science, but AstraZeneca was clearly not impressed much by Pfizer’s opening gambit, rejecting an initial approach back in January after flying over to the US for meeting with execs.

Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright…

 

We’re not sure who’s got the brains and who’s got the looks in this tie-up (it’s probably a bit of both), but the line “I'm looking for a partner, someone who gets things fixed” is oddly appropriate. 

Yo I'll tell you what I want what I really really want: independence for our rapidly progressing pipeline and job security for future R&D, that's what. Girl Power. 

This one goes out to Ian Read – the Scottish-born Pfizer chief executive who flew rather more than 500 miles across the Atlantic this week to woo politicians and Astrazeneca execs alike, before returning to New York to prepare this morning's sweetened offer. 

 

With a second rejection on the table, will it be a case of never, ever getting back together – or is Pfizer just never gonna give this one up…?

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