AstraZeneca planning China business spin off -FT
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[June 20, 2023]
(Reuters) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca is drafting a plan to spin off
its China business, and listing a separate unit in Hong Kong is being
viewed as an option, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
A separation might not ultimately take place, the report said, citing
people familiar with the matter, with one of them saying listing the
entity in Shanghai was also possible.
The company would seek to be a patriotic company in China that "loves
the Communist Party", its China president said in May. Last year, the
country accounted for 13% of AstraZeneca's total sales, and the company
is China's biggest drugmaker.
The spin off could protect AstraZeneca from tensions between China and
other global powers, while the company retained control of the business,
the FT's report said.
It added the idea has been around for years but was recently sidelined
by a global biotech downturn.
AstraZeneca said it did not comment on "rumours or speculations around
future strategy or M&A."
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A company logo is seen at the
AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, Britain, May 11, 2021.
REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam
in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal; Editing by
Chris Reese and Diane Craft)
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