not necessarily the case with pfizer. i wonder whether they'd want pfizer paper. how good are they at creating value? >> that's trabsolutely true. they had known with their acquisitions to be fairly aggressive in terms of trying to take out costs. that's one of the things that of course everybody is really afraid of right here is that they'll try to do the same thing with astrazeneca. they are a financial engineering pharmaceutical company, not one that's focused as much on development. >> which is the concern. mr. reed is an accountant by trade, right? how much can they benefit by relocating their headquarters to the uk, this inversion? >> quite a bit. i haven't worked up the fact numbers because that will depend ultimately on what the price is that they will be able to get astrazeneca for and what will happen with their earnings. they can make substantial bottom line savings for their shareholders. they buy astrazeneca with the two-theirs or so of the price going in shares, astrazeneca shareholders would benefit from that as well, assuming they accept that price

offer byn increased pfizer soften your opposition? >> that i think is about the size of the bid, it is about the 10 -- the intent about what it will achieve. it is what value it adds to our british industrial base. >> thank you for joining us. mark, we'll throw it back to you in the studio. has a can see, ian read difficult ahead of them. outside of parliament ahead of the grilling that the chief executive officer of pfizer is set to have in just over an hour. bloomberg has exclusive access to the idea summit taking place in london. our markets editor manus cranny standing by with more. good morning, manus. >> a very good day to you. a pretty big day ahead of us. 300 clients here at the goldman -- ideasa summit summit. i was looking at the rundown of subjects. demographics is a really hot topic at the moment. how do you look at the world and its ever exploding population? the reality is actually that we will live in a world with people that are a lot older and the total population will be smaller. to keep your spine that is falling fe

pfizer said it won't go hostile. will they come back after announcing that the 55 pounds an offer share was the final bid to put on the table? we'll get onto that in the next hour of the program. as we do so, european shares are getting a little bit weaker. just about two hours into the session today. the ftse 100 is down three quarters of a percent. the ftse is down 2.8% as well. and the deutsche bank decision to come back to ask for more cash from shareholders. what implications does that have for the financial sector? the second half of "worldwide exchange" is coming up. >>> this is "worldwide exchange." i'm ross westgate. the headlines from around the world. the difficult pill to swallow as astrazeneca rejects pfizer's final offer of 55 pounds a share. >>> and america's second biggest paid tv giant is born. at&t sealing a $48.5 billion deal for directv, but the tie-up could face a long regulatory road. >>> and deutsch e bank's stock lower following a cash call. we'll see if the family takes a major stake. >>> and

offer from pfizer. astra asen rejected by an adequate. undervalued as a company. -- it has been rejected by astrazeneca as inadequate. offer and their last they would not go hostility to negotiate a deal as a date. may, could they squeeze out another offer? no opening price yet on astrazeneca. essence you get an opening price on the stock, we will bring it to you that as soon as we get an opening price on the stock, we soon as we gets the opening price on the stock, we will bring it to you. markets,n the equity the futures are a little low. this is the opening. 0.1%.up by despite the bad today to last -- the stoxxe in 600, the benchmark up for a fifth straight week of agains -- gains. looking at stocks. today could be the day will we get information from credit suisse on the find from you as regulators expected to be around two point $5 billion. will it, with a guilty plea? 5- expected to be around $2. billion. with a guiltye plea? easing the next month. expectations are high. this is from the bank. if

let's talk first about the pfizer deal. this one looks like it may not take place, i am wondering a what your spiedy sense is. do you think this is a tactical retreat? >> the key word is final west virginia does final mean? >> according to takeover panel in the u.k. the final proposal is the final proposal. is that the key word or proposal. >> if it turns out they go their spat ways, what does pfizer do then? >> obviously, they wait six months before another proposal, then you have disgruntled shareholders, many of which are big institution, black rock is the biggest shareholder. only 8%. it's very disgruntled. the fact that the shares dropped 8% today. >> do you think that pfizer decides not to go hostile, it's longer and they are under this time pressure, they have to do a deal with somebody as soon as possible. >> i think the question is hostile deals by tear nature, they show a 20 or 25% success rate for a hostile deal. the board on board so to speak. this fact is they want to do this deal in part to do the corporation

pfizer has built up $70 billion. they are trying to see if they can have a lower rate of taxes on that. one of the biggest deals in pharma last year enabled them to move their headquarters to ireland. u.s. companies have done this and are looking at doing more and more. may sweeten its offer for a second time. >> that is what our sources are telling us. they may not sweden the cash offer much more. will probably structure it so that there is more cash on the table. if you look at astrazeneca shares, they are trading lower. they're not looking at too much of increase in the cash. >> they're looking at their options as to whether they can go. there is so much political opposition to it. that might be tricky. >> thank you for sticking around with this. we will be back in a couple of minutes. ♪ -- welcome mac to back to "the pulse." >> china's economic slowdown is deepening. growth in retail sales is slowed for april. china may miss its expansion goals of seven percent. >> there is support for independence in ukraine.

from pfizer about their takeover? >> i welcome the fact that he sees the fall in unemployment. these are jobs that he predicted would never come to britain. it is important because what we see is the largest ever costly increase in the number of people in work, 283,000. we see unemployment coming down, youth unemployment coming down, long-term unemployment coming down and long-term youth unemployment coming down which in our growing economy where our long-term economic plan is working and see the number of vacancies going up. three-quarters of the new jobs over the last year have gone to u.k. nationals and also that the employment of romanians and bulgarians went down in the first three months this year following the lifting of the controls, which i think is notable. in terms of pfizer, this government has been absolutely clear that the right thing to do is to get stuck in to seek the best possible guarantees on british jobs, on british investment and british science. we discussed last week and one of the most importa

talks with pfizer? think astrazeneca has very interesting pipeline right now. if you just look at the sheer number of clinical data points astrazeneca generated this year, r&dcan see right now rmb -- is exclusive in a couple of areas. the company right now is being with the current price offer. however, the ashes and the board give a very clear indication of which price point they would be willing to -- the astrazeneca board gave very clear indication of which price point they would to negotiate. i think pfizer can afford it, given the benefits they could see. i think if pfizer increases the price, then the chances are there the astra board could renew talks. i don't really see it happening. >> i'm going to preach a question that mark put to our guest earlier on in the show, which is simply, do you think astrazeneca is making too much of these new promising oncology drugs they have in the pipeline, they said that is the reason pfizer doesn't have the price right because those drugs are really going to d

it would be interesting to see if pfizer moves in whether they try to impose a pfizer culture on astrazeneca researchers. these are individuals and human beings. if they feel like they're not being treated right, they walk out the door. that disrupts your research program. >> one of the points about pfizer in particular, it hasn't focused that much on research and development. it's bought in a lot of r&d, so has astrazeneca to be fair. there are still a lot of big pharmaceutical companies. if you look at, for example, i was read a note from citi, laying out some of the key milestones, astrazeneca has two pages, pfizer has one. that suggests like just how much is coming in the pipeline. >> very quickly, very quick line an how you think ian read dealt with that yesterday. >> i think that he dealt with it as well as he could within what he's allowed to say under takeover panel legislations. he definitely came across as being potentially touchy under fire, which may not have helped his case. >> if you're a betting man, i'd go -- my guess is no better than anybody else's. i'd say this isn't going

pfizer taking over companies. it slimmed its operations and many are worried history might repeat itself. >> more on that when we come back. up next also on the program, r.b.s. saw profit triple. 7:47 in london. ♪ >> welcome back to "countdown". i'm mark barton. >> i'm anna edwards. it is 7:50. rbs profit tripled in the third quarter. we spoke to an analyst earlier on, brenda, who was saying there were not so many one-off items in this third quarter. did it impress you? >> i think it certainly was better than what i had hoped for. if we compare it to the number we saw last year, it looks like r.b.s. is starting to make inroads into good. over the last six weeks or so, we have seen good support. i think in some respects, investors have been hoping for some good news. of course some of the caveats they would have put to the good news is that there are still some problems in regards to mortgages in the u.s. and that could weigh on the share price and indeed whatever provisions they put aside in the near future. nev

. >>> pfizer fights back. the ceo says a deal with astrazeneca would be a win/windy spite further political pushback ahead of the grilling by u.k. lawmakers. >>> and voting in india's mammoth five-week collection ends today with the first exit polls due in just a few hours. this kicks an all-time high in anticipation of those results. >> you're watching "worldwide exchange" bringing you business news from around the globe. >>> hello and welcome to the first "worldwide exchange" of the week. i bet you are happy. >> absolutely overjoyed. >> what did they do? well done, brilliant. >> it's okay. i feel proud. and i'm glad to be back. >> you have been on your travels. >> i have. it's good to be back. >> yeah. plenty to get to on today's show. the eu ministers gathered in bus zells to assist the ongoing crisis in ukraine. the ministers will discuss the fallout from yesterday's fallout in two eastern regions. >> here's the mounting of the third split in ukraine after they claimed victory on self-rule. organizers said

i want to start first with the astrazeneca/pfizer. a bit of a surprise about this deal and the fact they acknowledged or said they're going to walk away now for at least a few months. what are your thoughts? >> good morning, julia. i think it was no surprise ultimately that pfizer has walked away. there's been extensive discussion over the course of the last two months or so. in these m&a deals, these are for the long term. this isn't this week, this month. >> more broadly about the market right now, can you give me a sense of what you're thinking? it seems to me there's been a structural shift in how these deals are being done. if we go back to 2007, it was the majority cash deals being down now. we're seeing a shift in terms of how they look to be financed. >> there's two things going on. clearly, there's a much greater sense of confidence in the market, more confidence these deals should and can get done. each deal is different. there is more stock, we're seeing more cross-border transactions, more stock in these deals. there's als

pfizer thinking in u.s. dollars, pfizer in the low 90s right now. froms stra zeneca's level last night they're at $99 a share. on its face, in a world rational and world not in this uk and bound by the uk takeover laws hard to understand, that would seem like a bridgeable gap to me. from a negotiating gap, i think this is bridgeable. the question is what do the uk laws allow. that's not clear to me. some people saying pfizer is legally restricted paying more than this. others say, no, no, if astrazeneca is agreeable, they can raise the bid. i tend to think of the latter. that kind of a spread should be bridgeable. >> the thing is whether astrazeneca does come back and negotiate. without that happening under the uk rules nothing can really happen for at least six months, right? >> yes. that's my understanding as well. astrazeneca has to -- for this to continue, astrazeneca has to change its process and invite pfizer in the process. i think it's in the hands of astrazeneca shareholders. i think that's what pfizer is doing. i call this effectively a fr

pfizer tables 50 pounds a share for astrazeneca. astra's board will meet to discuss the offer. >>> and rbs shares soar to the top of the market in london. >>> and reports of casualties roll in as kiev launches a military operation to gain control in the east. the country's prime minister warns ukraine is entering its most dangerous ten days since independence. >>> and the u.s. economy is expected to show one of the biggest gains in hiring in months in april. with companies in all sectors putting out the help wanted signs. >>> you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. >>> a warm welcome to today's program. we kick off with the latest on manufacturing pmi. eurozone, april manufacturing pmi, 53.4, a little higher than the forecast 53.3. the march manufacturing pmi was 53. german april manufacturing pmi 54.1, slight tick weaker. french manufacturing pmi 52.1. that's better than the 50.9 expected. so the french economy continuing to improve. we were very worried about it at the end of last ye

breakingly had some news from pfizer. the company said astrazeneca faces difficult challenges and that a combined company would be financially stronger. eyes are also says it is committed to investing in the united kingdom -- pfizer says it is committed to investing in the nine it kingdom and key leadership roles would be located in the u.k. let's go to manus cranny. fascinating, the pr offensive pfizer is taking today. >> an interesting debate. astrazenecanting on -- by matter of law, pfizer are on the front foot. on why on the website the deal makes sense and what the motivation is. the broad stakeholders -- government, politics, individuals, and institutional shareholders. -- inviting back immediately to what went on in the political beast program in the united kingdom where the prime minister says, look, he is all about defendant jobs and his deputy says these assurances are not worth the paper they are written on. you mention the business secretary here in the united kingdom perhaps best known for his involvement in

the offer coming a week or so ago from pfizer. familiar with the subject -- sources familiar with the situation telling bloomberg that pfizer is considering increasing the cash element. what do you see as potentially interesting in this story as we wait for the ceo to testify in london? >> it is becoming a politicized story. i think that is probably the wrong move. look, we will pay a little bit more for astrazeneca, but we are going to be disciplined and try to discourage astra's standalone policy. i think there is probably not much more room for an increased bid because of the way they are talking down. after zeneca, could result in them overpaying. >> where are we on the overall markets at the moment? levels decent compared to the past decade. where are we heading here? >> i think we are definitely going to carry on higher. a lot of it is going to be what happens with the ecb where they actually follow through with action. i think they will probably be forced into doing some form of qe or stimulus and that will be positive for

with the worst 12-months returns is pfizer. >> i think pfizer is trying to be opportunistic. they have almost $50 billion of cash, most of that cash is parked offshore. i think that tax certainly playing a role in their interests. i think their intent is to redomicile into the uk where tax rates are lower. i think cost in is also a playing role. i think pfizer has shown in the past they can integrate and cut costs. i think in this case you're dealing with a market that has benefited from record low interest rates, dealing with a market that's also trying to lower the overall corporate tax structure, so pfizer is trying to participate in that. >> again, i guess sometimes it's quicker, easier and cheaper to buy drugs through acquisition versus doing the r&d from scratch yourself, right? who do you see in the space that's going to be the next to consolidation. i notice the -- who did you think is going to get together in the future? >> well, i think there's probably not any one company in particular that will be next, but again there's only a handful of large pharmaceutical comp

pfizer does not. that is a reason they want to buy astrazeneca, who does. >> the labor leader in the u.k. wants guarantees out of pfizer on a deal that jobs would not be cut. there may be a 35% synergy analysis. what would happen here if they happen to get guarantees? >> as i understand it, the guarantees will be a certain percentage of employees that remain in the u.k. pfizer has a whole bunch of employees on the u.s. soil. one way or another, they could probably achieve reasonable synergy targets as far as acquisitions. either by cutting on u.k. soil or u.s. soil. if they have to do it through cutting on u.s. soil, they probably would do that. >> i have to ask you about a transatlantic culture clash. a lot of people are worried that that would be a disruption to the company's operations and perhaps affect research and development. >> i think that is a reasonable risk. you cannot dismiss it entirely. the ceo of pfizer is a brit. that should help to be used the culture transition. pfizer also for many

given that backdrop, i think it is very unlikely that pfizer will come back. and i think also, astra zeneca had their mind set on a particular number and they would not deviate from that number. the fact that pfizer came up short gives them a "get out of jail free" card with the politics involved. >> we have actually seen one deal being done on the other side of the atlantic in a dash and a multibillion-dollar one, and two. oo,t at&t has struck a deal to take over directv. would go to 26 million. up at&t effect -- beef in the coming merger which wing time warner and comcast as well. at&t would have to make significant concessions to make this deal happen. let's take a look at how the markets are digesting this news in the united states. the dow jones industrial average falling behind somewhat. the nasdaq and s&p are higher. we have seen shares of both directv and at&t falling back somewhat on the news of this deal. shares lost some ground. they were dragging once again on the london ftse. paris cac 40 and frankfurt dax were in positive territory. issuing more

what does pfizer do now? >> pfizer could come back for round two but not until later this year. under the uk law they must wait three or six months. analysts say in that time investors will watch astrazeneca closely to see if they can deliver the same offer on its own as much as pfizer. >> they are looking to see where the company can deliver over the next decade. in the next six months there could be setbacks, any setbacks could be an opportunity for pfizer to come back in the situation and make another bid probably similar pricing to where its final bid was for astrazeneca. >> others suggest it is time that pfizer look elsewhere. they suggest new york neighbors bristol myers which they say is a leader in the area of onc oncology, morning star's conover say they could consider the irish drug maker shire, there is speculation that pfizer could split itself up in the next few years, separating the new drugs and older profits. for lower tax costs and pipeline drugs it is possible we should not discount pfizer and astrazeneca just yet. >>> more now on the food deal that tyler menti

the british drug giant rebuffed pfizer's offer saying that pfizer failed to make a compelling strategic case. pfizer says that it's new bid is final and that it won't go hosti hostile. take a look at the shares down 11.8%. nick terrell will be joining us onset with more news in a few minutes. >>> and at&t is acquiring directv for $95 a share in combination for both cash and stock. that's a 10% premium over friday's closing price, but of course that price has been rapidly climbing as some news potentially or rumors of the deal got out. you can see right now directv is up $2. that's 1.80 increase to 87.98. andrew has been reporting on the detail with the full story of how this tie-up got done. andrew? >> thank you, becky. i talked to randall stevenson last night, a couple different issues. this puts them as the second largest tv company in the country. 5.7 million tv customers at at&t, 23.3 million in the u.s. as becky said, it's a 10% premium. it is actually a 30% premium when you look at the price relative to when rumors of the deal first came about. and let me tell you a couple thing t

at issue is whether pfizer will cut jobs if it buys astrazeneca. ande is shannon pettypiece brozak.ozac -- as part of the wrangling that is going on, how much of this is about national pride and how much is this about dollars and cents? rex the u.k. elected officials, members of parliament and the prime minister are concerned about losing research and they should be. if history repeats itself in anyway of what has happened in past deals. pfizer has cut 70,000 jobs since 2000. like a small city. it is a good-sized city. they've closed more than seven research labs and they -- if the deal goes through there is all indications that will happen again with research centers and jobs in the u.k.. the u.k.'s government concern does seem to be legitimate and i think that is what the concern is about. youom a strategic mind of from pfizer, why do they need to make this deal happen? >> they got to do something because their model has been to acquire. not new products but lateral acquires, other companies, similar type companies. when shannon was talking about

pfizer reported early this morning. we talked a little bit about his plan to buy astrazeneca and use an inversion where they would move the tax domicile to the uk. it is 27% here in the united states compared to 22%. >> i think the pharmacy companies rye traoeu to get to that rate. they're on the way to zero. that's the only one that will make them happy. >> what do you think about that whole practice, though? berkshire has taken advantage of tax code in the past to make sure it does things in the most tax effective way? >> we would never take ours to zero. >> getting to 22% is still more than the a lot of u.s. companies would be paying if swraoeuzer does that inversion and goes ahead and moves the tax domicile. >> you talked about this before, right? buffett clashes with munger over u.s. corporate taxes at a meeting. i'll quote what you said. the corporate tax rate should be much lower when the rest of the world keeps bringing the rates down. there is some disadvantage to us if we're much higher. did you change your op

so pfizer didn't quite get there with that offer today. it is trying to convince the board to start talking. i read he was the 6th most powerful person in sweden. we will bring you that interview as soon as possible guys. back to you. >> unbelievable. meg terrel joining us talking to pfizer today. >> blackrock's chief investment strategist coming up. don't go away. de>>who's got twond rhooves and just got ae. claim status update from geico? this guy, that's who. sfx: bing. and i just got a...oh no, that's mom. sorry. claim status updates. just a tap away on the geico app. could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for? you could literally be done with the test by now. now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. ifrks good morning. >> i want to ask you about the front page of the journal today. it says that corpora

rejecting what pfizer calls the final offer. they increase the bid to 55 towns per share. 117 billion in cash and stock. >> astrazeneca has put a number on it, 58 pounds. $.55.s effectively trading at a discount. >> i love the reporting. it is going to harm science. u.k. will harm jobs in the . pfizer would not give a guarantee that it will not cut jobs. that is the issue. >> a busy morning. >> this is official. up 1-0 in thee series. living onto at&t. directv.ed to by they gave the satellite tv provider in the nfl sunday ticket package to go along with the phone, wireless and high-speed internet services. this comes as time warner cable and comcast are sorting out their merger as well. front page as well. >> william: joins us. bloomberg television contributor. merger and acquisitions. any number of deals. honor to have howard linden. stocky -- know him from twist. now.throw things at you >> it is too small of a team. no one can throw. opinion oflove your when you see a merger frenzy. what does the signal? >> it signals cheap mo

it's between pfizer and astrazeneca. pfizer has made two offers but brits keep saying no. pfizer is like a dog with a bone. we'll find out why americans have no intention of giving up. >>> hello. it is midday in london, 2:00 sloviansk and noon in the capital abuja where there's growing anger among the parents of 230 schoolgirls believed to be abducted by boko haram near the border. they've been missing three weeks now. despite contradictory statements from the army in recent days, there's been no sight of them. the president promised his government will do everything it can to bring them home. in the last hour, it's reported a leader of one of the protest groups demanding rescue of the girls has been arrested, said to be by the first lady of nigeria. protests keep coming. the message is the same. the girls have been missing almost three weeks. bbc secured the first ever tv interviews with the mother. they're in agony not knowing the fate of their abducted daughters. >> since they were taken away, it's been difficult for us. many come to our house during the day to sympathi

government is coming to block pfizer's acquisition of astrazeneca. the takeover may not be in the national interest. they also say that no other country would approve the deal on the basis of weak assurances from pfizer. are conflicting reports of whether pfizer will sweeten its bid after rejecting the offer on friday." over to france now. francois hollande is hosting prime minister abe. it is the latest leg of his six-nation tour of europe. they are said to focus on trade talks with tokyo. the visit comes as japan deals with china. we will talk about that as well. and a new gauge shows china's manufacturing contracted for a fourth straight month. the hsbc purchasing managers index dipped below analyst estimates, a further sign of the slowdown in china. coming up, russia's next move. president obama and chancellor merkel set a trigger date for more sanctions. ambitionsstop putin's in ukraine? we will discuss that next. ♪ >> at a time when we are trying to prove that yes, it is possible, we can deliver growth and jobs, and then this happens. this is

. >> let's talk pfizer. there's stuff going on this morning, the ceo ian read is making his case to british lawmakers about why the deal with astrazeneca is a win/win for the company and the country. we are following this developing story. consolidation has defined the pharmaceutical industry. i don't think we always thought of it in terms of tax implications before. we have had cross-continent mergers before, haven't we? >> absolutely. just a couple years ago. we had a big one. >> it used to be smith klein and then there was a beckham, a glaxo smithkline. i think some were cross borders. i don't remember thinkingen some was trying to lower their tax rate at the time. this is a new twist. >> this characterized the discussions this morning in the uk. this panel really given ian read, the ceo of pfizer, a tough time here. just as i left it, they were talking about taxes and the tax rate in the uk and whether this was driven primarily by that tax idea. >> he said l says no. >> he says there are other considerat

pfizer could be expected to break up in 2017. there's some debate over whether some of the parts of pfizer's value is as strong as people are expecting it to be. john boris i was talking with earlier this week thinks the street might be overestimating this and we'll see whether pfizer is coming from a place of weakness and if that could be driving motivation from this deal. >> is there any thought that we'll get a better understanding as to how far pfizer is willing to go. >> yeah, it's interesting. all eyes are going to be on this vaccine's oncology consumer business because of the cancer franchise there. now we saw early stage data from the breast cancer drug earlier this month and that disappointed the street a little bit. so people are going to be watching this closely because it has implications for what pfizer needs to get from astrazeneca. we talked about this pipeline that astrazeneca has. that's an important key there on monday. >> thanks so much from that. meg joining us from headquaters. we have the names that option t

the ceo of pfizer has two audiences. yes his own shareholders, he'll face shareholders of an astrazeneca, and then he has congress and to the british commons. criticized and almost called names when adrian bailey started off the hearing. he talked about him being a hungry shark that needed to be fed. a praying mantis. these were some hot rhetorical questions. the challenge for read is that he did not have an answer to parliament demanding that he make certain assurances on job cuts. he cannot talk about how much he wants the company and what his plans are because that could influence a bid that has not been finalized. he was in a difficult collision -- position. >> can this committee in the house of commons block the deal? >> no. that might be the issue. what they can do is -- it is an inquiry committee, they could insight public opinion a little bit. he conceded that he might not have the power to stop this. what you could do, and all of the theatrics are about is possibly poisoning pfizer's interest, or make astrazenec

pfizer is sometimes seen by u.k. big, bad,s as a conquering american company that was going to ruin everything. political issue in britain, sweden, and the u.s.. this was a lot more, located than many mergers. >> what will you be looking for in the next three months? >> we want to see what is happening with astrazeneca's shareholders. if you see them piling on in making public statements. talks and 9% are ok with where they were. if this adds up, it will be good. with thermstrong latest on the pfizer-astrazeneca deal, it is dead for now. durable goods, case shiller, consumer confidence, richmond fed are all coming out this morning. futures higher. morning from a "bloomberg surveillance" on bloomberg television and bloomberg radio. look for us on bloomberg.com. bloomberg radio plus and bloomberg tv plus. not monday morning. with me is scarlet fu and adam johnson. raj date, former deputy director of consumer financial protection. up overdebt you rang the weekend. lots to talk about on wall street. >> the time to take s

we are joined to look at the fight ongoing between pfizer and astrazeneca. >> that's right lucy. facing intense questions from politicians. if successful, the bid would be the largest take over of a uk firm. would it be a good thing for britain? it's midday here in london. 7:00 a.m. washington, 12:00 in nigeria where american supply planes are looking for 200 girls kidnapped by boko haram. u.s. is flying manned surveillance missions and sharing satellite imagery with the nigerian government. the girls were taken last month. it is believed they're being held in the sambisa forest, area twice the size of belgium. we'll bring you more details on that u.s. operation in a moment. first our world affairs correspondent john simpson in nigeria. he's been given rare access of the boko haram activity. >> good morning. thank you very much. this whole part of nigeria is boko haram territory. to get around it, you need fire power, lots of it. we had 40 official vehicles packed with armed men to guard us. we're going with a local governor who's heading off to the scene of one of the worst atta

pfizer will not be able to do this. we will see how all these big claims about astrazeneca plays out. >> is there any place else for pfizer to turn? what will he do with all that cash? >> there aren't that many places for them to turn. they were looking for three different things. they wanted big cost synergy. they wanted to invert themselves and get out of the corporate tax rate in america. they wanted to find somebody that had a pipeline they could use. there are not that many big pharma companies that have those three things. there aren't that many candidates. astrazeneca was probably the best option for them. >> thank you so much drew talking to us about pfizer and astrazeneca. we will hear from astrazeneca today at 11:30 a.m. eastern time. >> we will take you to d c. phil mattingly is on hand. eric holder is about to take the podium. what do you expect to hear from them? >> strong words. they have made it clear this is an escalation in this kind of ongoing cyber war between the countries. we will hear the attorney

nice to see you. >> thanks. >> what's your take on pfizer? >> pfizer is a big story. we have numbers in the first quarter. i think what a quarter is, january and february and march. not great weather month anyhow. numbers in the first quarter were poor. sales light around the board. this company does not look like it's growing, in fact, it's not growing, breaking into three pieces gives you things that don't grow. we're rather skeptical about management's sub subsequent on the conference call optimism all is going well. we would rather consider the bid for astrazeneca as not plan a but plan b. let's get something on the books a better chance for growing. >> you're not for it? >> no. i think this is management's plan for astrazeneca. it's a good bid. we think it will succeed. astra will fight it, has the government helping them. the board has rejected it. we rather believe pfizer will fail because shareholders will cave. they want the higher price. >> you are an owner of pfizer. it sounds like you have a bad taste in your mouth from this quarter? will you continue to h

assuming that everybody tells the full truth. >> pfizer possibility to carry pfizer's deal -- ability to carry off a big deal -- is that damaged for the future? >> i don't think so. these things are always looked at on the run merits. this deal got pushed back because pfizer came with numbers that were perhaps initially not as high as one could have calculated, using fair valuation metrics. --re is not one single you newspaper in the u.k. that did not write about it and then the politicians. >> there was so much criticism in the u.s. about the fact that the u.s. corporate tax policy was so uncompetitive that this was the latest example of a diversion. i think they were not happy -- happy not to lose a $100 billion deal. than planning to spend more $48 billion to snap up directv in the u.s.. tois this really just a deal compete with the time warner cable comcast merger? >> it is about competition and content. content is king. we don't just watched television on our television. we stream it. this is why at&t really wants to ramp up its arsenal of content and provide more video, more tel

will its shareholders pressurize the company to talk to pfizer after this three-month gap? pfizer?ean for internalursue his strategy of splitting the company, maybe, selling off -- not selling off, selling off the branded drugs and older drugs. there's -- those are the two big internal divisions. busy cult today, manus. i will see you in a few minutes. "the pulse" today, manus. the bank will list shares here in london and expects ts be to pay enormous dividends. 64yd's has announced investments worth about 11.4 billion pounds. intercontinentalexchange group euronext sharesf in belgium and france. the company could be valued at 1.5 billion euros. the ecb is expected to cut rates. we spoke to bloomberg from the ecb for him in portugal. >> there will be a reduction in the interest rate and a negative deposit on the ecb. what could be important in my --w is to work with inattention to the euro devaluation, because if we need to grow, we need internal demand. , malaysia air has yet to restore confidence in its brand. it is working on a full-scale review. details next. ♪ >> will come b

the american drugs firm pfizer. in addition to offering more money, they have highlighted the bid shareholders, some of whom have holdings in astrazeneca are backing the bid. it says it's now reviewing pfizer's offer. we can join the trade officer who holds a stake. it's a basic first question. do you now regard this as the right price and right deal? >> i think it's a very interesting potential deal. a combination of pfizer with astrazeneca. the level has been rejected again quite sift twiftly swiftls morning saying the revised offer undervalues the company. >> do you feel confident they'll get the deal and up the offer one more time? >> there are probably three options available to pfizer. the first is if they want it to be a friendly offer so they gain access to astrazeneca to see how the combination would work, to come up swiftly with a higher revised offer. the second option is go hostile, say they don't need the support of astrazeneca's board and come up with a number they believe will be supported by the pfiz

the markets do not think a higher offer will be made by pfizer. very,, i would say, it is very difficult to say at this stage. they are working very hard on this one. thank you very much. joining us from geneva. se" is coming up next. we will have a great show. we will not have francine lacqua, but we will have a good show. the flare up in the ukraine. fresh sanctions to be coming up. economic guy will join us. will join us from barcelona for the push into electric taxis. they are doing it in spain. we will talk twitter. the lockout expires today. investors, long-time investors can start to sell the stock. how they will handle the story? this is something that should be priced in. it be a chance for a bubble story? it'll be a great couple of hours. make sure you stay tuned. in the meantime, it's a great event. it happens every year. washington get together to celebrate itself. it is the white house correspondents' dinner. our formal white house correspondent is none other than hans nichols. he has been to a few. the president was funny, yeah? >> l

pfizer picked off the prime minister. members on all sides of the house, the appearance of pfizer and the select committee raised more questions than it answered about a so-called assurances. the head of pfizer, research and development spending as a result of the takeover. has the prime minister got an assurance that these cuts will not take place in the u.k.. the strongest possible guarantee, what is the way of getting those guarantees? is it getting stuck in with pfizer and astra's zeneca with the british interests or standing back, doing nothing apart from playing politics? that is the point. i am clear what the british interest is, it is british jobs, british r&b and i will do everything to make those guarantees the we received and he would have gotten nothing. as we do so let us remember this, 175,000 employed in life sciences at our country because we are an open economy that encourages investments. eli lilly, and no vargas, johnson and johnson have chosen to invest here because it is a great company to come and do

. >> pfizer ups its bid for astrazeneca. bayer is in exclusive talks to buy merck's consumer business. morning, everybody. you are watching "the pulse." i'm guy johnson. >> and i am francine lacqua. coming up, a bloomberg exclusive. we speak with the south african finance minister as a nation sets to go to the holes. >> the army in ukraine has become an operation to retake ovyansk. pressure is reporting that two helicopters have been shut down and one pilot killed. down and oneshot pilot killed. heather, can you give us the latest on the situation, vis-a-vis the offensive? day.re protests on labor the situation here has become increasingly tense, as you mentioned. there was an antiterrorist operation by ukrainian forces to slovyansk. we have had two statements, one from the interior ministry saying this operation started about 4:30 a.m. today. they have circled the town, taking control of nine roadblocks as interior minister and the head of the national guard and the defense minister are on the spot there. they are demanding

the from pfizer and bayer games are still on. steve wynn says the market is macau.than ever in we will be back after a short break. ♪ >> i'm anna edwards in london. streaming online, on your phone, on apple tv and now on the new amazon fire tv. additionalee any costs for customer compensation. we will continue to watch the stocks through the morning. it is all about jobs today with march unemployment figures do out from the eurozone this morning. the april jobs report out of the u.s.. jonathan ferro has all the details you could be looking for. the market is looking for 218,000. it is going to be more about the headline number. underemployment, average earnings, hours worked. this really is about a second quarter. given the weakness we had in the first quarter and that pathetic gdp read, this first quarter really does matter because you cannot blame the weather anymore. that excuse is dead. the comparisons to 2011 are going to pick up. if you don't know what i mean by that, that is when the second round of quantitative easing a

dre's beats. >>> and pfizer could cut its u.s. tax bill by picking up astrazeneca, although shareholders would ultimately foot the bill if the deal went through. >>> pfizer's pursuit of astrazeneca may carry a major tax incentive for the drugmaker but the company's shareholders may not be quite as lucky. cnbc's hampton pierson has more for us out of washington. there's a little line in the sand here, potentially for stockholders. >> as in business and in life, ross, it's always about the taxes. here's what we've got. pfizer could cut its tax bill by hundreds of millions of dollars if it can land astrazeneca. but shareholders could face a major hit if the deal goes through. "the wall street journal" is reporting this would stem from a little known provision in the u.s. tax code that's triggered when u.s. companies buy an overseas firm and relocate there. it's what's known as a tax inversion. shareholders with stock in taxable accounts would owe capital gains when those shares are converted into the stock of the combined company. sh

little chance that pfizer will do anything. we know that under the rules they cannot increase offer. on the other hand, astra said publicly they are not interested in this hit and they really want stay independent at this stage. therepfizer walks away, is at least a three-month cooling off. period. what happens next to oth parties? >> obviously, it will depend a lot on the performance of astrazeneca over the next few months and the pressure they could have from the orders if do not looks are -- too successful or the of emerging market or japanese is not as high as the market expects. obviously, more pressure from orders. >> is picking up pressure from shareholders, they have to be disappointed the stock fell 10% or more last week on news that the deal was not actually going through. you think that pressure will grow? there is going to be a three-month window. at that point, they could invite pfizer back. if they don't, they have a six-month window. you think astrazeneca shareholders will now be agitating for this deal to go thr

so another week to go here, but pfizer saying it was its final offer. the question is, is it trying to convince astrazeneca shareholders to put pressure on the board to come forward. now, of course on the pfizer side. some people are saying maybe this is a good thing. mark goodman, who said we still believe pfizer can find a more productive use for $116 billion. so taking that as you will for the next week, maybe we'll see some movement here, but today pfizer saying that's the final bid, mandy. >> okay. final bid, but of course it ain't over until the fat lady sings. may 26thth is the today illustrate to watch. >> and andy obesity drugs are a growing part of the market. i just wanted to point that out. >>> on a more serious note, the scandal at the v.a. continues to grow. we've been on the story now for almost a year. now the question is, what do the v.a. failures tell us about the future of health care as a whole? we're going to explain that point of view, coming up. >>> plus the outrage of the day. a business woman booted from a trade show, because sh