GSK, a British pharmaceutical corporation, sold institutional investors its remaining ownership in Haleon, a consumer healthcare company, for 1.25 billion pounds ($1.52 billion).
With the sale, GSK will be able to concentrate more on cancer, infectious illnesses, and vaccines. These are all areas that CEO Emma Walmsley aims to boost revenue in at the pharmaceutical company.
At 324 pence a share, GSK sold almost 385 million shares, or 4.2% of Haleon. The sale on Friday was at a 2.5% discount to Haleon’s Thursday closing price of 332.4 pence.
In 2019, GSK and Pfizer merged their consumer healthcare operations to form Haleon. Its shares experienced a 1.7% decline in the morning session, closing at 330.1 pence by 0730 GMT, with GSK also falling by 0.7%.
In July 2022, Haleon—of which GSK had previously owned over 13%—was spun out and put on the London Stock Exchange.
GSK reported that the total revenues from the four Haleon interests it sold in less than a year came to 3.9 billion pounds.
After selling a $3.5 billion investment in Haleon in March, Pfizer, currently holding about a 22.6% stake, became the largest stakeholder, with the business coming in second. The largest shareholder in Haleon is still Pfizer.
In early May, Haleon, which also produces the painkiller Panadol, reported first-quarter revenue slightly below market projections. This was attributed to reduced volumes, retailer destocking in the United States, and a slowdown in demand for certain medications following a sales spike last year.
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