The market did not receive the information warmly. At 09:45, AstraZeneca's shares were trading down 7 percent on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
A possible merger would create one of the world's largest pharmaceutical groups.
"I would be a little sceptical and wait to see if this really happens. It doesn't fit neatly into the business dynamics," says Unnerus, adding that this type of major deal in the industry has been unusual in the past 20 years.
Move towards the US
A possible deal would strengthen AstraZeneca's presence in the US.
If they were to merge, it would speed up the strategic move towards the US. Perhaps in the long run it would mean that the company would formally become American, possibly, says Johan Unnerus.
AstraZeneca, based in London, is becoming more and more of a global group, he says.
The Swedish operations are becoming an increasingly smaller part of the whole. But we have seen this development for a long time.
Both Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca are publicly traded companies. The question is what would happen to the shares if the companies merged.
AstraZeneca is the stronger and larger company, and this type of deal usually reflects such proportions. So in a potential negotiation, there is much that indicates that AstraZeneca is in the strongest position, he says.
“No smoke without fire”
Unnerus is not convinced that any deal will happen.
I'm a little sceptical. Of course, there's no smoke without fire, and there are discussions about collaborations all the time. Both are strong in cancer and have patent expirations to take into account in the future - so you could imagine discussing opportunities to collaborate. But I would wait and see what really comes out of this.
