(Releads with CEO comments on Roche stake)
ZURICH, May 25 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis is ready to sell its near $14 billion stake in rival Roche without demanding a premium, Chief Executive Joe Jimenezsaid on Wednesday.
Novartis has been discussing options with banks for sellingits Roche shares worth about 13.70 billion Swiss francs ($13.81billion), potentially providing cash for new deals, sourcesfamiliar with the situation told Reuters last month.
It built up its one-third stake in Roche voting stock between 2001 and 2003 under former Chairman Daniel Vasella for apossible merger that never happened.
In the past, Jiminez has said he would want a premium pricefor the Roche stake, reflecting the difficulty of recreatingsuch a large position in the open market. But on Wednesday, hesaid that is no longer a dealbreaker.
"We would now think through that, and would potentially makea decision to exit without a premium, if the opportunity wereright," Jimenez told investors at an event in Basel.
Pushing ahead with a sale now could make sense for Jimenez,who has been under pressure to improve growth after difficultieswith the company's eyecare unit Alcon and new heart drugEntresto.
But after winning a favourable industry recommendation forEntresto last week, it said on Wednesday it remains confidentannual sales will peak at around $5 billion, despitefirst-quarter sales of $17 million.
It stuck to its 2016 forecast for Entresto of $200 millionin revenue.
Last week it split its main drugs division into two units,one for cancer, the other focusing on the rest of Novartis' drugportfolio. Seven top executives have left this year, includingdrugs chief David Epstein last week.
The company is also fighting a lawsuit by U.S. prosecutorswho allege its sale force ran a decade-long doctor kickbackscheme involving sham events that led to overcharging thefederal government. Novartis has disputed the allegations. (http://reut.rs/1VHLpYz)
Jimenez said Novartis had moved away from its aggressive"results-oriented" sales approach.
"We had to shift the culture of the company in terms of acompliance standpoint," he told investors, adding he iseliminating "high-risk" speaker programmes for older productsthat had the potential to blur the line between education andinappropriate drug promotion.
Chief Financial Officer Harry Kirsch said the company'spriorities for cash were organic growth, boosting dividends,"bolt-on" acquisitions and share buybacks.
Novartis stock rose 1 percent to 78.65 francs by 0850 GMT,trimming their decline this year to 9 percent. Roche's illiquid voting stock rose 1.2 percent and its non-voting stock was up 1percent, in line with a 1.1 percent gain in the European sectorindex.($1 = 0.9920 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Miller and Joshua Franklin; Editing byMichael Shields and Susan Thomas)