Pfizer to Sell $2.5 Billion Worth of Haleon Shares, Focusing on Pharmaceutical Innovation

Pfizer has started to dispose of its stake in Haleon, as it previously expressed its desire to focus on pharmaceutical innovation.

Pfizer plans to sell about 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) of Haleon stock, which is the first step in reducing the 32% stake held by Haleon’s largest shareholder.

Pfizer has been stating for a while that it will reduce its Centrum stake and is planning to offer 630 million shares of Haleon.

In this process, Haleon will buy back about 315 million pounds ($401.09 million) worth of its own stock from Pfizer, reducing Pfizer’s stake to about 24%.

Haleon was created through the merger of GSK and Pfizer’s consumer health business, and Pfizer maintains its stake. The company also produces other products like Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers.

Haleon’s performance has been improving recently, and it predicted in February that its sales could grow by up to 6% this year.

In recent years, pharmaceutical companies have been moving to separate their consumer health and general pharmaceutical businesses to focus on their core business of developing innovative therapies.

In line with this, Sanofi also plans to split its consumer division, and Johnson & Johnson completed its separation of Kenvue in August.

Since separating from GSK, Pfizer has cut costs and downsized its portfolio. GSK has raised more than 2.5 billion pounds ($3.18325 billion) by selling Haleon shares three times.

Accelerated offerings are typically offered at discounted prices to attract shareholders. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley acted as joint global coordinators and book runners for this offering.