--- description: U.K. company says the new offer "undervalues the company and its attractive prospects" title: AstraZeneca Rejects Pfizer's Final Bid of $116 Billion image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56824663fa81cf95/6986900a810bbb9707c91a72/490807749.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # AstraZeneca Rejects Pfizer's 'Final' $116 Billion Bid by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 19, 2014 9:38 AM CUT  Viagra drugs made by Pfizer and Nexiam (Generic name - Esomeprazole) made by the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in a Pharmacy on May 15, 2014 in Johannesburg. Viagra drugs made by Pfizer and Nexiam (Generic name - Esomeprazole) made by the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in a Pharmacy on May 15, 2014 in Johannesburg.Christopher Furlong—Getty Images by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 19, 2014 9:38 AM CUT AstraZeneca [has rejected](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27466278 "undefined") Pfizer’s improved “final” bid of $92 per share, which would have made the British pharmaceutical giant worth about $116 billion, saying that the new offer “undervalues the company and its attractive prospects.” The pursuit by American firm Pfizer’s, based on a strategy to cut its tax expenses, has been scrutinized out of fears that it would impede AstraZeneca’s drug research and cut jobs. The debate over a potential takeover has embroiled both politicians and trade unions in the U.K., where AstraZeneca currently employes 6,700 people. AstraZeneca’s shares fell over 13% in early trading after the rejection of the offer. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27466278 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/104374/astrazeneca-rejects-pfizers-final-116-billion-bid/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/104374/astrazeneca-rejects-pfizers-final-116-billion-bid/"},"headline":"AstraZeneca Rejects Pfizer's 'Final' $116 Billion Bid","datePublished":"2014-05-19T09:38:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:54:51.994Z","description":"AstraZeneca declined the bid that would have made it worth $116 billion because the offer 'undervalues the company and its attractive prospects'","url":"https://time.com/104374/astrazeneca-rejects-pfizers-final-116-billion-bid/","keywords":["Companies","deal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56824663fa81cf95/6986900a810bbb9707c91a72/490807749.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56824663fa81cf95/6986900a810bbb9707c91a72/490807749.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Viagra drugs made by Pfizer and Nexiam (Generic name - Esomeprazole) made by the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in a Pharmacy on May 15, 2014 in Johannesburg.","caption":"Viagra drugs made by Pfizer and Nexiam (Generic name - Esomeprazole) made by the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in a Pharmacy on May 15, 2014 in Johannesburg.","creditText":"Christopher Furlong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/104374/astrazeneca-rejects-pfizers-final-116-billion-bid/","name":"AstraZeneca Rejects Pfizer's 'Final' $116 Billion Bid"}}]}] ```