Pfizer Wraps Up Haleon Exit With $3.3 Billion Stake Sale

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Pfizer Wraps Up Haleon Exit With $3.3 Billion Stake Sale.

stock :: 1day ago :: source - bloomberg

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Ashleigh Furlong

(Bloomberg) — Pfizer Inc. (PFE) raised about £2.55 billion ($3.3 billion) through the sale of its remaining 7.3% stake in Haleon Plc (HLN), culminating a years-long separation from the maker of Sensodyne toothpaste.

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The pharmaceutical giant offered about 618 million shares through a placement with investors, according to a Wednesday statement. The shares priced at £3.85 apiece, a 1.6% discount to Haleon’s Tuesday closing price, it said. Investor demand exceeded the size of the offering by multiple times, terms on Tuesday showed.

Pfizer also sold around £170 million worth of shares back to Haleon in an off-market share repurchase transaction. Haleon shares were down 0.2% as of 8:38 a.m. in London on Wednesday after fluctuating narrowly.

Haleon was formed in 2022 from a combination of GSK Plc and Pfizer’s consumer-health units.

Pfizer has been trimming down its stake in Haleon, most recently raising £2.5 billion through a block trade in January. The New York-based company has said for years that it planned to exit the Haleon stake. Meanwhile, GSK had previously sold down its holdings of Haleon, completing its separation from the consumer health company last year.

Haleon posted strong results for the fourth quarter of 2024 at its most recent earnings, although it expects improvements this year to be weighted toward the second half.

While some other European companies have expressed alarm at the prospect of tariffs implemented by the US, Haleon has downplayed the impact, with Chief Executive Officer Brian McNamara saying the company has relatively low exposure.

The latest share sale comes amid a flurry of block trades in European stocks, as volatility and high stock prices have prompted shareholders to monetize often long-held positions.

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led the stock sale.

(Updates with share move in third paragraph.)