Pfizer To Cut Stake In Sensodyne Toothpaste-Maker Haleon, Potentially Worth £2B

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) plans to slash its stake to approximately 24% in Consumer healthcare giant Haleon Plc (NYSE: HLN).

This move follows Pfizer's earlier announcement that it will gradually divest its ownership in Haleon.

The offer price per share is set to be disclosed around March 19, after a book-building process, as stated by Haleon.

Pfizer intends to sell around 630 million shares, valued at about £2 billion based on Haleon's closing price on Friday.

Haleon, recognized for brands like Sensodyne and Advil, emerged from a merger between Pfizer's and GSK Plc's (NYSE: GSK) consumer healthcare divisions in 2019, with Pfizer holding a significant stake.

In its fourth-quarter release, Haleon added that it expects to allocate £500 million to buy back shares in 2024.

Haleon also announced its intention to repurchase approximately £315 million (approximately $400 million) of shares from Pfizer in an off-market transaction.

The share sale and buyback are expected to reduce Pfizer's interest in Haleon from 32% to approximately 24% of Haleon's issued Ordinary Share capital.

GSK has progressively reduced its stake since Haleon's inception, with the latest sale in January reducing its ownership to 4.2%, making it the second-largest shareholder.

In January, GSK announced that it would sell 300 million ordinary shares in Haleon at 326 pence per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately £978 million.

In October, GSK raised £885.6 million (around $1.08 billion) by selling some of its shares in Haleon, reducing its stake in the consumer-healthcare business to around 7.4%.

In May, GSK sold 240 million shares of Haleon in a move that has raised £804 million for the firm. The offloaded shares are equivalent to up to 2.5% of Haleon's issued share capital.

Price Action: GSK stock is up 0.28% at $42.31, HLN shares are down 2.35% at $8.12, and PFE stock is down 0.43% at $27.82 on the last check Monday.