Novartis to finally shed its stake in Roche

Novartis (NOVN: VX) has agreed to sell 53.3 million (around 33%) bearer shares of fellow Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG SIX) in a bilateral transaction to Roche for a total consideration of $20.7 billion, with the news sending the latter’s shares up more than 3% to $425.60 Swiss francs, while Novartis was hardly changed.

Vas Narasimhan, chief executive of Novartis, said: “After more than 20 years as a shareholder of Roche, we concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment. Today’s announcement is consistent with our strategic focus and we intend to deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation priorities to maximize shareholder value and continue to reimagine medicine.”

Dr Narasimhan has sought to refocus Novartis since taking the top position in 2018, spinning off its eye-care unit Alcon and last week outlining a strategic review of Sandoz, its generics and biosimilars business, including a divestment of the unit.