Alexion Investors Approve Acquisition By AstraZeneca

Investors of Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) have voted in favor of the company’s acquisition by AstraZeneca. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in Q3 2021.

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Alexion Pharmaceuticals CEO Ludwig Hanston, Ph.D., said, “We are very pleased with today’s affirmative shareholder vote, which brings us one step closer to completing a transaction that will accelerate the combined company’s ability to develop and provide access to life-changing medicines for patients with rare and devastating diseases around the world.” (See Alexion stock analysis on TipRanks)

The addition of Alexion is expected to strengthen AstraZeneca’s revenue profile and will be immediately accretive to its core earnings.

According to the terms of the acquisition, which is valued at $39 billion, $60 in cash and 2.1243 American Depository Shares (ADS) of AstraZeneca will be given for each Alexion share held by investors.

On May 5, Oppenheimer analyst Hartaj Singh reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $205 price target (19.6% upside potential).

Commenting on Alexion’s 1Q results, Singh said, “We continue to be impressed with management’s ability to execute.”

Alexion’s acquisition by AstraZeneca has received clearance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Singh added, “With the recent near-term business strength, a strong case for over $10 billion in revenues by Fiscal 2025 and a surprisingly full pipeline, we argue the current acquisition price is too cheap.”

Based on 1 Buy and 6 Holds, consensus on the Street is that Alexion is a Hold. The average analyst price target of $183.60 implies 7.1% upside potential. That’s after Alexion shares have surged by about 34.6% over the past six months.