Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC Tuesday said it will sell about a third of its 19% stake in Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd to institutional investors as it cashes in some of Aspen's value growth in recent years, but said it remained committed to working with the company and will retain a seat on Aspen's board.
Glaxo bought a stake in South-Africa based Aspen in 2009 when the companies collaborated in sub-Saharan Africa. Aspen has since bought a number of over-the-counter and prescription brands from Glaxo, most recently thrombosis products Arixtra and Fraxiparine and their associated manufacturing site in France for GBP0.7 billion in cash.
Glaxo will sell the stake of about 6%, or 28.2 million shares, through an accelerated book building process that will determine the price. An accelerated book building means a fast sales process with little or no marketing. The process will start straight away, Glaxo said.
"GSK has a long and successful partnership with Aspen - and our investment in the company has grown in value significantly over time. Having assessed this investment we have now decided to realise some of this value without altering the basis of the partnership," Glaxo Chief Strategy Officer David Redfern said in a statement.
"We remain committed to working closely with Aspen as shown by our remaining stake in the company and our board seat," he added.
Citigroup Global Markets Ltd and UBS Ltd will act as joint bookrunners for the offering.
Glaxo said it will use the proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes and the profit on the sale won't be included in the group's 2013 operating profit and earnings per share figures.
Aspen reported a 27% increase in revenue and 28% increase in operating profit in its last financial year and has been growing strongly outside Africa in regions like Latin America and Asia Pacific. It has also been acquisitive, most recently snapping up molecules and pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing facilities from MSD and some infant nutrition licenses and production facilities from Nestle in Africa and Latin America.
Aspen shares are up 70.5% in the last 52 weeks alone, having risen for several years.
Glaxo shares were up 1.2% at 1,633 pence Tuesday afternoon, one of the biggest rises on the FTSE 100.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
Copyright 2013 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
