AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) expects to complete its £27.5bn acquisition of rare disease specialist Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc next week after getting the go-ahead from UK authorities.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority said this morning it cleared the proposed deal, deciding not to refer it to a Phase 2 investigation.
As a result, the FTSE 100 company said it expects to close the deal next Wednesday, 21 July, with new shares issued to Alexion shareholders beginning trading in London, Stockholm and New York the following day.
Marc Dunoyer, AstraZeneca's executive director and chief financial officer, said: "We are very pleased to have secured this critical final clearance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority for the acquisition of Alexion. We look forward to the imminent closing of the transaction so that we may pursue our shared ambition to bring more innovative medicines to patients worldwide and begin AstraZeneca's next chapter of growth."
The company said the combination, revealed back in December, is important as rare diseases "represent a high-growth opportunity with rapid innovation and significant unmet medical needs" and it will create a new unit focusing on rare diseases, headquartered in Boston, USA.
Analysts at UBS estimated that Alexion will add circa 40 US cents to the UK company's standalone EPS guidance this year, from its current level of US$4.75-5.
"But given the company was restricted in what assumptions it was able to include in its guidance since the beginning of the year it may be possible that the stand-alone guidance also changes."
The shares were down 0.5% at 8,712p in late morning trading.
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