GSK Sells Haleon Stake For $1.1 Billion

British drugmaker GSK on Friday raised 885.6 million pounds (USD 1.08 billion) from a discounted stake sale in Haleon, cutting its shareholding to 7.4 per cent in the consumer healthcare firm, Reuters reported.

Reportedly, GSK had earlier said that the Haleon spin-off and subsequent stake sales would allow the company to sharpen its focus on vaccines and infectious diseases and also fund deals to bolster a lacklustre drug pipeline. The sale of 270 million shares at 328 pence a piece, represented a discount of about 2.5 per cent to Haleon's last close of 336.25 pence on Thursday, a report from Reuters stated.

Shares in Haleon were down 1.2 per cent while GSK was marginally up 0.4 per cent at 08:00 GMT. GSK, which will remain the second largest shareholder in the Sensodyne toothpaste maker in May sold 240 million shares in Haleon to raise about 804 million pounds and lowered its stake to 10.3 per cent from the 12.9 per cent it initially retained in the business.

GSK currently trades at the equivalent of around 9.7 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, according to LSEG data. That's below the 16 and above level for peer AstraZeneca and the FTSE global pharmaceutical index.

Pfizer, which holds a 32 per cent stake in Haleon, said in May it plans to cut its ownership in a "slow and methodical" manner within months.

The British drugmaker and Pfizer have agreed to not sell any further Haleon shares for 60 days from the settlement of placing.

(Reuters)