Astrazeneca’s chief executive has damned critics of his £29billion deal to buy Alexion, pledging it will propel his company to the top of the FTSE 100.
Frenchman Pascal Soriot, 61, has defended the acquisition of the US rare-disease specialist following an 11.5 per cent fall in the company’s share price.
Speaking out: Pascal Soriot has defended the acquisition of Alexion following an 11.5 per cent fall in the company’s share price
He blamed the drop on hedge funds short selling the stock and defended the strategy of moving beyond Astra’s core oncology business.
He told the Sunday Times: ‘[With Alexion] we have a good chance of becoming the most valuable company on the London Stock Exchange for a long time to come. We’ve been increasing our efforts in immunology, so Alexion will help us speed our progress.’
Soriot has been hailed for offering Astrazeneca’s vaccine, which was developed with Oxford University, at cost price during the pandemic.
The firm is already one of Britain’s biggest listed companies, having seen its share price climb from less than 3,000p when Soriot took over in 2012 to over 7,220p, with the company valued at £94.8billion.
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