Pfizer has reduced its stake in the British healthcare company Haleon PLC to 7.3% by selling £2.5 billion ($3 billion) worth of shares, according to a bookrunner for the sale.
J.P. Morgan Securities PLC reported Wednesday that Pfizer Inc. has cut its total interest in Haleon by 7.7%, down from 15% of the company’s total voting rights.
The pharmaceutical giant sold 700 million shares in Haleon, which produces popular brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Advil painkillers, to institutional investors at 357 pence each. This sale price represented a 2.8% discount from Haleon’s closing price of 367.10 pence on Tuesday in London.
The sale was conducted through an accelerated bookbuild, where underwriters invite investors to place bids in a brief timeframe. In addition to J.P. Morgan Securities, several other major financial institutions participated, including Morgan Stanley, HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS, and Mizuho International PLC as joint bookrunners. BofA Securities, Deutsche Numis, Goldman Sachs International, and Loop Capital Markets acted as co-managers for the sale.
