- Pfizer plans to reduce its stake in consumer healthcare company Haleon from 32% to 24%
- Haleon makes Advil pain relievers, Nicorette gum and Beechams cold and flu relief
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Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is to sell a quarter of its stake in toothpaste producer Sensodyne Haleon for more than £2 billion.
The pharmaceutical group plans to reduce its stake in Haleon, which also makes Panadol painkillers and Nicorette gum, from 32 percent to 24 percent.
It will sell approximately 630 million shares of the company at an offering price expected to be announced on or about March 19 and decided through a bookbuilding process.
Stock sale: Pfizer plans to reduce its stake in Haleon, which makes Sensodyne toothpaste, Panadol painkillers and Nicorette gum, from 32% to 24%
Haleon said it would buy £315m worth of shares in the offer, having committed to buying back £500m of its own shares this year.
Based on Haleon’s latest share price, Pfizer could receive around £2.3 billion in total from the sale.
Pfizer announced last May that it was considering selling its stake in Haleon to fund shareholder returns and reduce debt from its $43 billion buyout of biotechnology company Seagen.
Dave Denton, Pfizer’s chief financial officer, said the sale would proceed in a “slow and methodical” manner so as not to jeopardize Haleon’s market valuation.
Haleon was formed in 2019 when Pfizer and its pharmaceutical company GSK merged their consumer healthcare businesses, whose brands ranged from painkiller Advil to toothpaste Aquafresh and cold and flu relief Beechams.
It was split two years ago with a market value of around £31 billion in what was the largest European listing since commodities firm Glencore went public in 2011 on the London Stock Exchange .
A few months before the split, Unilever, the owner of Ben & Jerry’s, had offered £50 billion to acquire the joint venture.
However, GSK rejected the offer on the grounds that it “fundamentally undervalued” the company and its future prospects.
Since Haleon listed in July 2022, London-listed GSK has gradually reduced its stake in the company from 12.9% to 4.2%, having recently sold shares worth 1.86 billion of pounds sterling in October and January.
GSK – formerly GlaxoSmithKline – continues its divestments in order to strengthen its balance sheet, finance its drug pipeline and finalize its acquisitions.
Last month, the group agreed to spend $1 billion up front and up to $400 million in milestone payments based on success for respiratory drugs specialist Aiolos Bio.
Haleon Shares fell 2.1 per cent, or 6.85p, to 315.45p on Monday afternoon, meaning they remain just below their first list price of £3.30.