AstraZeneca plunges 5% on buyback offer

AstraZeneca Pharma India today tanked about 5 per cent in early trade, a day after its Swedish parent firm AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB fixed the floor price at Rs 576.10 a share for its delisting.

The floor price for the delisting offer is at a discount of nearly 57 per cent from yesterday's closing price of Rs 1,335.10 on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of AstraZeneca Pharma India fell 4.87 per cent to touch a low of Rs 1,270 on BSE. Later, the scrip was trading at Rs 1,313.15, down 1.64 per cent at 1015 hrs.

Witnessing a similar trend on National Stock Exchange, Astrazeneca fell by 4.8 per cent to Rs 1,314.05 from previous close.

On June 29, the Swedish pharma major had come out with a voluntary delisting offer for the shareholders of its Indian arm, AstraZeneca.

The decision comes on the heels of the government's move to make it mandatory for all listed companies to raise public shareholding to a minimum of 25 per cent. Sweden-based AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB holds 89.99 per cent stake in AstraZeneca Pharma India.