LONDON - Pfizer increased its bid by about 7 percent for AstraZeneca of Britain on Friday, increasing pressure on AstraZeneca to agree to a deal that would exceed $100 billion.
The deal, if consummated, would be one of the largest-ever acquisition efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, surpassing Pfizer’s $90 billion takeover of Warner-Lambert 14 years ago.
Pfizer said Friday that it was willing to pay a combination of cash and shares equal to 50 pounds a share, or about $84.
Pfizer publicly declared its interest in AstraZeneca earlier this week after making several informal takeover approaches. Pfizer had previously offered a share-and-cash combination worth £46.61 a share, which AstraZeneca’s board determined “very significantly undervalued†the company.
The transaction would represent a 39 percent premium to AstraZeneca’s closing price on Jan. 3, the day before Pfizer first made an offer to the drug maker.
“We believe our proposal is responsive to the views of AstraZeneca shareholders and provides a sound basis upon which to arrive at recommendable terms for the combination of our two companies,†Ian Read, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
AstraZeneca had raised concerns about the structure of the earlier proposal, including the risk in executing a so-called inversion, a maneuver that allows United States companies to reincorporate abroad, thereby escaping the high American corporate tax rate.
Inversions are increasingly popular, and pharmaceutical companies have been among the most eager to complete such transactions.
On Friday, Pfizer sent a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain to address concerns about potential job losses following a combination of the companies.
In its letter, Pfizer said that it would move its corporate and tax residence to Britain, base key scientific research there and employ a minimum of 20 percent of the combined company’s research and development workforce in the country.
Pharmaceutical companies have been a key driver of acquisition activity this year, announcing potential agreements worth as much as $74 billion.
The deals come as the industry is facing increasing costs for research and development. Larger companies, hoping to pick the next blockbuster drug, are buying or partnering with smaller biotechnology companies as treatments come closer to being released.
AstraZeneca has an attractive portfolio of cancer drugs, an area that remains a priority for Pfizer.
