BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Connecting the dots on AZ

How much AstraZeneca might have to pay in rumored takeout of Shire

January 21, 2013 8:00 AM UTC

Street watchers are trying to connect the dots to figure out new CEO Pascal Soriot's plans for AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN). Starting with his October suspension of the company's share buyback plan - implying AZ might use its cash for something else - and adding last week's management shake-up, they have arrived at the idea that the pharma might be in the market for rare disease company Shire plc (LSE:SHP; NASDAQ:SHPG).

On his first day in October, Soriot suspended AZ's $4.5 billion share repurchase program pending a strategy review, which is slated to be presented Jan. 31 with the pharma's annual results (see BioCentury, Nov. 5, 2012)...