Haleon PLC stock dips after Pfizer's $3.26 bln stake sale

Investing.com -- Shares of Haleon PLC (LON:HLN ) (NYSE:HLN ) traded lower on Tuesday after Pfizer (NYSE:PFE ) had sold a substantial stake in the British consumer healthcare group.

The U.S. pharmaceutical giant offloaded about $3.26 billion worth of shares, reducing its ownership in Haleon to 15% from 22.6%, Reuters reported on Tuesday. 

This move comes as Pfizer continues its strategy of gradually divesting its stake in Haleon, which was established through the merger of GSK and Pfizer's consumer healthcare businesses in 2019 and spun off from GSK in 2022.

The company had previously indicated its intention to decrease its stake in a "slow and methodical" manner, suggesting a planned and considered approach to the divestment process, the report said.

In total, Pfizer aimed to sell about 540 million shares, but due to strong demand, this figure was raised by 100 million shares. In addition to Pfizer's sale, Haleon said it would buy back about 60.5 million of its own shares from Pfizer at the same price, totaling around £230 million.

Investment banks BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs International acted as joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the sale, the report added. 

This is not the first time Pfizer has divested shares in Haleon; earlier this year, in March, it sold about $3.5 billion worth of Haleon shares. Additionally, GSK completely exited its stake in Haleon in May.

Haleon has projected strong performance, forecasting high single-digit growth in organic operating profit for 2024, driven by demand for its oral care products and vitamins. 

Source: Investing.com