Shareholders in AstraZeneca were left split by its decision to reject a final £69bn offer from Pfizer, with some arguing its management had betrayed its investors, while others praised the company's faith in its long term prospects.
As AstraZeneca's shares tumbled following the rejection some of large shareholders argued that Pascal Soriot, chief executive, should have allowed them to make up their own mind over the latest offer.
One top ten investor told the Financial Times it believed Mr Soriot had not acted in the interests of his own shareholders, while two top 30 investors said they were upset by not being allowed to judge the merits of Pfizer's final £55 a share offer.
"We are disappointed the board of AstraZeneca has rejected Pfizer's latest offer so categorically," said Alastair Gunn, UK equities fund manager at Jupiter, a top 30 investor.
But some of AstraZeneca's longest term investors came out in support of Mr Soriot and the board.
Richard Hughes, a fund manager at M & G, said: "To take a short term view would be a mistake," he said.
Neil Woodford, the well-known British fund manager and long term shareholder in AstraZeneca, told the FT he had bought more shares on Monday morning.
Mr Woodford, who said he now held a stake worth £450m, or about 0.75 per cent of the company, said he supported Mr Soriot.
"Pfizer has tried to deliver tomorrow's price today but they are still, in my view, a long way short of something that would persuade me to trade my belief in AstraZeneca's long-term potential for what is on the table today," Mr Woodford said. "Many of the analysts who are saying they should sell at £55 [per share] are the same people who would have sold in the past at £30."
Investor, the investment vehicle of the Wallenberg family, and who with 4 per cent of AstraZeneca is the company's fifth largest shareholder, said it supported the board and believed it was "doing a good job". Marcus Wallenberg, a former Investor president and chief executive, sits on AstraZeneca's board.
© The Financial Times Limited 2014. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation