AstraZeneca to buy Fusion Pharmaceuticals, Diageo names Sir John Manzoni as next chair

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 15 points lower on Tuesday, having closed down 0.06% on Monday at 7,722.55.

Stocks to watch

AstraZeneca said it had agreed to buy biopharmaceutical company Fusion Pharmaceuticals for up to $2bn. Fusion specialises in radio conjugates, which combine the precise targeting of antibodies, small molecules or peptides with potent medical radioisotopes to deliver radiation directly to cancer cells. AstraZeneca will acquire all of Fusion's outstanding shares for $21 each in cash at closing plus a non-transferable contingent value right of $3 per share.

Diageo has announced that non-executive director and former Cabinet Office official Sir John Manzoni will step in as its new chair when Javier Ferrán retires from the head of the board next year. Manzoni joined Diageo four years ago, after working as the chief executive of the UK Civil Service and permanent secretary for the Cabinet Office until 2020, but holds more than 30 years' experience in the private sector, having served on the boards for SSE, KBR, SAB Miller and BP. He was also president and chief executive of Canadian oil firm Talisman Energy.

Unilever announced plans to expedite its growth action plan (GAP) on Tuesday, by separating its ice cream business and launching a significant productivity programme. The FTSE 100 consumer products giant said the decision was designed to streamline its focus on a portfolio of high-performing brands in key categories, facilitating innovation and growth. It said the separation of ice cream would enable it to operate as a more focussed company with four distinct business groups, while the productivity programme would generate €800m in cost savings over the next three years.

Newspaper round-up

P&O Ferries, which controversially sacked about 800 workers in 2022, has paid some crew members less than half the UK minimum wage thanks to an ongoing legal loophole the British government promised to close two years ago. Agency workers at the company, which is owned by the Dubai-based DP World, have in some cases been earning about £4.87 an hour – even lower than the £5.15 an hour the company suggested was its lowest pay rate – an analysis of recent payslips conducted by the Guardian and ITV News suggests. – Guardian

A £58bn plan to rewire Great Britain’s electricity grid to connect up new windfarms off the coast of Scotland is expected to trigger tensions with communities along the route. National Grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) has mapped out power “motorways” across Great Britain to allow for the biggest investment since the 1960s. – Guardian

Heathrow’s inability to expand means it has lost its status as a global transport hub, the Dubai Airports boss has said. Paul Griffiths, formerly managing director of Gatwick Airport before he moved to the Middle East, said Heathrow is suffering from a shortage of capacity amid an ongoing debate over a prospective third runway. – Telegraph

Mike Lynch has been accused of masterminding a “multiyear, multilayered fraud” at Autonomy that tricked HP into massively overpaying for the business. On the first day of Mr Lynch’s criminal trial in San Francisco on Monday, the court heard accusations that the tech entrepreneur “spun a fabulous tale” to lure HP into paying $11bn (£8.6bn) for Autonomy. – Telegraph

Britain's car industry has insisted that an unprecedented 2,000% increase in vehicle exports to Azerbaijan has nothing to with Russia and is explained by the fact that the former Soviet state is a "flourishing market in its own right". Sky analysis has found that the British car sector sent another £40m worth of cars to Azerbaijan in the first month of this year, raising fresh questions about whether those cars were being sent there to circumvent sanctions on Russia. – Sky News

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Monday as major indexes recouped some of the previous session's losses ahead of tomorrow's Federal Reserve meeting.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.20% at 38,790.43, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.63% to 5,149.42 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.82% firmer at 16,103.45.

The Dow closed 75.66 points higher on Monday, reclaiming some of Friday's losses that came as investors continued to come to terms with hotter-than-expected core and wholesale inflation readings.

Traders were mostly looking ahead to tomorrow's Federal Open Markets Committee's monetary policy meeting on Monday, with the central bank widely expected to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged.

Elsewhere, the expectation of a rate cut taking place in June has also been dialled back in recent days.