Pfizer divests USD 3.5 billion stake in Haleon
Pfizer
Sensodyne-marker Haleon has said that Pfizer, its top shareholder, divested approximately a $3.5 billion stake in the consumer healthcare firm, reducing its ownership in the British company to 22.6%. Previously, Pfizer held a 32% stake, while the second-largest shareholder, GSK, held a 4.2% stake.
This marks Pfizer's first stake sale in Haleon since the company's inception in 2022, following its spin-off from GSK and subsequent listing. Last year, Pfizer announced its intention to gradually decrease its ownership in a "slow and methodical" manner over the course of months.
Meanwhile, GSK, which initially held a 12.9% stake, has been reducing its stake over the past year, with the most recent sale occurring in January.
In terms of numbers, Pfizer sold 594 million shares at a price of £3.08 apiece and approximately 196.5 million American Depository Shares (ADS) at $7.85 each, totaling around $3.1 billion. This figure is higher than the 630 million share sale disclosed by Haleon on Monday. Additionally, Haleon announced plans to repurchase £315 million ($399.92 million) worth of shares from Pfizer through an off-market transaction.
The stake sale and buyback are slated to conclude on March 21, with Pfizer's shares being subject to a 90-day lock-up period in connection with the sale, reports Reuters.
($1 = 0.7876 pounds)
Read also: GSK raises USD 1.24 billion from latest Haleon stake sale
