Pfizer intends to cut stake in Sensodyne-maker Haleon to 7.3%, says bookrunner

(Reuters) -Pfizer will sell shares worth 2.50 billion pounds ($3.05 billion) in Haleon, lowering its stake in the British consumer healthcare company to about 7.3% from 15%, its bookrunner JPMorgan said on Wednesday.

The sale of 700 million Haleon shares at 357 pence apiece is a discount of about 2.8% to the stock's closing price on Tuesday.

Shares in the maker of Sensodyne, Panadol and Advil, which gained 17% in 2024, were up 0.7% at 369.7 pence in morning trade on Wednesday, in line with the broader FTSE 100.

The sale represents nearly 7.7% of the issued share capital of Haleon, which was created by the merger of GSK and Pfizer's consumer healthcare businesses in 2019. It was spun off from the British drugmaker in 2022.

Pfizer, which will remain Haleon's largest shareholder after the sale, said in 2023 it would cut its ownership in a "slow and methodical" manner within months.

The U.S. drugmaker is under pressure from hedge fund Starboard Value to hold its management accountable for underperformance. Last October it sold a $3.3 billion stake in Haleon, while GSK sold its entire stake in May.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the share sale.

In October Haleon missed third-quarter forecasts, hurt by a stronger pound and lower sales of its painkiller Panadol in Australia and the Middle East.

($1 = 0.8199 pounds)

(Reporting by Aatrayee Chatterjee and Anandita Mehrotra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Arun Koyyur and Jan Harvey)