DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) said Wednesday it has entered into an agreement to purchase 5.1 million B shares for DKK4.2 billion from Novo A/S as part of the ongoing DKK12 billion share repurchase programme for a 12 month period beginning 2 February 2012.
MAIN FACTS:
-The transaction price is set to DKK823.11 a share and has been calculated as the average market price from 27 April to 1 May in the open trading window following the announcement of Novo Nordisk's financial results for the first quarter of 2012.
-Novo A/S will thereby readjust its ownership of Novo Nordisk A/S to 25.5%, equal to the level of ownership prior to the cancellation of treasury shares, which took place in April 2012.
-The total shareholding of Novo A/S in Novo Nordisk A/S prior to the sale of B shares is 107,487,200 A shares and 40,412,800 B shares, corresponding to 26.4% of the share capital and 73.0% of the votes.
-The transaction will reduce Novo A/S' ownership of Novo Nordisk A/S to 25.5% of the capital and 72.7% of the votes.
-Henrik Gürtler, CEO of Novo A/S, said: "Following the recent cancellation of treasury shares, Novo A/S has realigned its shareholding in Novo Nordisk A/S to the level of just over 25%, which has been our target since the demerger of Novozymes A/S in 2000."
-"We remain a committed long-term majority shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S."
-As of 2 May 2012, Novo Nordisk A/S has repurchased B shares amounting to DKK6.7 billion during the period beginning 2 February 2012 when taking this transaction with Novo A/S into account.
-Novo Nordisk A/S and its wholly-owned affiliates now owns 13,201,726 of its own B shares, corresponding to a total nominal value of DKK13,201,726 or 2.4% of the total share capital.
-At 0710 GMT shares traded 0.6% higher at DKK828.
-By Dominic Chopping; Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3093; dominic.chopping@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 02, 2012 03:27 ET (07:27 GMT)
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