Pfizer Pursues Astra Zeneca, GE and Siemens Put Alstom in Play

Nichole Harper
28 Apr, 2014
New York City

U.S. stocks eased after tensions between Russia and West remained high and violence perked up in the eastern region of Ukraine. Oil futures traded at a seven-week high. Merger talks lifted indexes in Europe after Pfizer offered a revised bid for Astra Zeneca. GE and Siemens to pursue Alstom SA.

[R]10:10 AM New York – U.S. stocks traded down after no signs of easing of tensions between Russia and West and violence perked up in the eastern region of Ukraine. Oil futures traded at a seven-week high. Merger talks lifted indexes in Europe after Pfizer offered a revised bid for Astra Zeneca. GE and Siemens to pursue Alstom SA.[/R]

Monday Merger talks lifted market indexes in the U.S. and supported the advance in European markets.

But market indexes quickly dropped in the negative after investors focused on tensions between the West and Russia.

World markets remained on the edge after the U.S. President Barack Obama said in Manila that sanctions will expand to cover more Russian political and business leaders.

Asian markets were under cloud after Chinese authorities did not announce more measures to support economic stimulus and indexes in Europe advanced after merger talks in pharmaceutical industry.

S&P 500 index increased 8.18 to 1,871.42 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 16.03 to 4,091.51.

No Easing of Ukraine-Russia Tensions

Crude oil futures price in London and in New York gained to a seven-week high after tensions between Ukraine and Russia showed no sign of easing.

Violence in Ukraine picked up and rebels in the Eastern region seized public buildings and are holding several international monitors hostage.

The mayor of Kharkiv was shot in the back and city officials said Hennady Kernes is in critical condition.

Separatist leader are demanding a referendum on May 11 to declare the independence of Republic of Donetsk.

Monday Deals

Pfizer Inc ((PFE)) gained 2.8% to $31.61 after the pharmaceuticals maker approached Astra Zeneca with a revised bid of 58.8 billion pounds or $99 billion.

France based Alstom SA was in play after French President Francois Hollande is said to have not opposed to the company bid. General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and President Hollande met in Paris today and French leader stressed on protecting jobs and maintaining independence of domestic nuclear industry.

French officials privately encouraged Alstom to consider a rival bid from Germany based Siemens AG.

Siemens said it is considering to make a rival offer for Alstom and has engaged its board to approve a preliminary deal.

Forest Laboratories, Inc ((FRX)) increased 0.2% to $90.06 after the maker of Alzheimer treatment drugs agreed to acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals for $95 a share.

Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc ((FURX)) soared 28% to $102.75.

Newmont Mining Corp ((NEM)) dropped 6% to $24.90 after the company said it terminated its merger talks with Canada based Barrick Gold Corp ((ABX)) after two largest gold miners could not agree on spinoff of certain assets after the combination.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Bank of America Corp ((BAC)) declined 5% to $15.15 after the bank said it plans to suspend its stock buyback and dividend increase after it discovered an error in its capital account calculation.

The bank said it will resubmit its plan to Federal Reserve after it discovered miscalculation in cumulative realized losses on structured notes issued by its investment banking arm Merrill Lynch.

Toyota Motor Corp ((TM)) declined 0.4% to 5,473 in Tokyo trading after the company plans to relocate its headquarter to Plano area in Texas from Torrance, California.