GSK sells partial stake in spin-off firm Haleon at discount

(Reuters) -British drugmaker GSK on Friday said it sold 240 million shares in its consumer healthcare business Haleon at 335 pence per share, raising about 804 million pounds ($1.01 billion).

Haleon, the world's biggest standalone consumer health company, comprising assets from GSK and Pfizer, sells non-prescription drugs, vitamins and oral care products.

The sale price represents a 2.3% discount to Haleon's closing price of 342.85 pence on Thursday and lowers the stake of GSK, the second largest shareholder, to 10.3%.

Haleon shares were up 1.6% at 348 pence in early trade on Friday.

Last week, the firm reported quarterly profit below expectations as higher costs squeezed margins.

Sensodyne maker Haleon was formed in July 2019 as GSK and Pfizer merged their consumer healthcare businesses. It was spun out and listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2022.

GSK and Pfizer have agreed to not sell any further Haleon shares for 60 days.

Pfizer told the Financial Times newspaper last week that it intends to offload its stake in a "slow and methodical" manner within months.

($1 = 0.7923 pounds)

(Reporting by Anchal Rana and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Jason Neely)

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