BRITISH pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said on Thursday that it was selling its last remaining stake in domestic drug maker Aspen Pharmacare for R8.47bn.The London-based firm said it had successfully completed an accelerated bookbuild for the disposal of its last remaining 28.2-million Aspen shares, representing 6.2% of Aspen’s issued share capital. It offered its stake to institutional investors at R300 a share, a discount on Wednesday’s closing price of R316.87.The move is in line with expectations, as GSK said three years ago that it planned to sell off the 16% stake it acquired in Aspen in May 2009. It was one of several transactions agreed to by the two companies at the time, which also saw Aspen acquiring the rights to distribute GSK products in SA, and market and sell its medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. The deals were collectively valued at R3.47bn.The two drug makers subsequently clinched a series of deals in which Aspen acquired niche products from GSK. In th...
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