Ft: AstraZeneca in talks with Bristol Myers Squibb over a massive 400 billion merger

The British firm AstraZeneca is in talks over a mega-merger with its US rival, Bristol Myers Squibb: the deal would create the world’s fourth-largest Big Pharma giant by market capitalisation, at just under $400 billion. According to informed sources, the two companies have been discussing the merger in recent months and, as reported by the Financial Times, the talks could lead to an agreement in the near future, although delays or the breakdown of negotiations cannot be ruled out. AstraZeneca, the second-largest listed British company by value, has a market capitalisation of £196 billion (US$260 billion), whilst BMS has a market capitalisation of US$133 billion.