July 21, 2021: “AstraZeneca completed the acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Alexion).
The closing of the acquisition marks the Company’s entry into medicines for rare diseases and the beginning of a new chapter for AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca now has an enhanced scientific presence in immunology and, through Alexion’s innovative complement-biology platform and robust pipeline, will continue to pioneer the discovery and development of medicines for patients with rare diseases.
Rare diseases represent a significant unmet medical need and becomes a high-growth opportunity for the Company.
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Today we welcome our new colleagues from Alexion to AstraZeneca and begin a new chapter that will augment our growth for years to come.
Our sustained R&D investment in oncology, cardiovascular and renal, as well as respiratory and immunology, has powered AstraZeneca’s transformation and now we add rare diseases, where fewer approved treatment options exist.”
Marc Dunoyer, incoming Chief Executive Officer, Alexion and Chief Financial Officer, AstraZeneca, said: “I am delighted to be working alongside my new colleagues at Alexion where we will continue to discover, develop and deliver medicines that change the lives of people suffering from rare diseases.
We look forward to also applying Alexion’s complement-biology platform across areas of AstraZeneca’s broader early stage pipeline and, significantly, to the extraordinary opportunity to extend existing and future rare disease medicines to patients in many countries where AstraZeneca already has a strong presence.”
Financial considerations
The total consideration paid to the Alexion shareholders was approximately $13.3bn in cash and 236,321,411 new AstraZeneca shares (approximately 94% of which will be represented by new AstraZeneca American Depositary Shares (ADSs)).
Admission of the new AstraZeneca shares issued to Alexion shareholders to listing on the premium listing segment of the official list of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and to the trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed securities has been approved and will be effective at 08:00 BST on 22 July 2021.
Trading of the new AstraZeneca shares on Nasdaq Stockholm is expected to commence on 22 July 2021. Trading of the new AstraZeneca ADSs on the Nasdaq Stock Market will commence at 09:30 EDT on 22 July 2021.
The Alexion shares will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market and Alexion will terminate its registration under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as practicable following completion of the acquisition.
As a result of completion, the issued share capital of AstraZeneca PLC with voting rights is 1,549,116,129 ordinary shares of $0.25. No shares are held in Treasury. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in AstraZeneca PLC is 1,549,116,129.
The above figure for the total number of voting rights may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, AstraZeneca PLC under the FCA’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
AstraZeneca anticipates providing updated 2021 financial guidance for the new, combined entity in due course.
Consolidation of Alexion will start from the closing of the transaction and the first quarter of consolidated financial reporting is expected to be the third quarter of 2021 due for announcement on Friday 12 November 2021.”
