Britain says may use public interest test in Pfizer bid for AstraZeneca

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Britain could use its powers to assess whether U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - news) 's potential takeover of British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) is in the public interest, Business Secretary Vince Cable said on Tuesday.

"The government must and will approach it from a position of even-handed neutrality and recognise that this is ultimately a matter for the shareholders of both companies," Cable told parliament.

"One of our options as the government would be to consider using our public interest test powers. This would be a serious step and not one that would be taken lightly but I'm open-minded about it whilst stressing that we are operating within serious European legal constraints." (Reporting by William James and Sarah Young, editing by Guy Faulconbridge)