GSK offloads £804m worth of shares in spun out healthcare arm Haleon
GSK, the British drugmaker formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline, has today offloaded some 240m shares of its spun out consumer healthcare group Haleon in a move which has raised £804m for the firm.
The share sale from GSK, which spun out Haleon last year in a blockbuster £31bn listing, represents some 2.5 per cent of the consumer healthcare group’s issued share capital.
GSK is the second largest shareholder of London-listed Haleon and said it will still hold 955m ordinary shares in Haleon after the sale, representing approximately 10.3 per cent of the issued share capital of Haleon.
The firm also said it had ruled out any further share sales for a period alongside top shareholder Pfizer, which holds a 32 per cent stake in Haleon.
“[GSK and Pfizer], have each undertaken not to dispose of any further shares in Haleon for a period of 60 days following settlement of the Placing, subject to certain customary exceptions and waiver by [Bank of America] Securities,” the firms said.
The offer price for GSK’s share sale will be determined through an accelerated bookbuild offering process, the FTSE 100 firm said today, which is set to commence immediately.
Haleon had a rocky start as a listed firm but has since climbed in value to trade at above seven oer cent of its IPO price,
Haleon’s shares closed marginally up 0.9 per cent at 342.85 pence on May 11.