The Wellcome Trust said today it was selling down its stake in pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to diversify its investment portfolio.
The trust, the world's largest medical charity, is offering a minimum of £1 billion sterling pounds (€1.5 billion) worth of GSK stock, up to a maximum of 125 million shares.
Dealers said the trust's shares in GSK were expected to be sold at a maximum discount of 2 per cent to yesterday's close of £18.15 under the operation conducted by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.
Wellcome Trust, which had a controlling 40 per cent stake in drugmaker Wellcome before Glaxo took over the group in 1995, has been gradually reducing its stake in Europe's biggest pharmaceuticals company.
GSK spokesman Mr Martin Sutton said the latest sale, if implemented in full, would cut the charity's holding in the enlarged group from around 2.5 per cent to some 0.5 per cent.
"Wellcome Trust have been talking about selling down for a while now. Clearly this is going to put a bit of pressure on Glaxo but that is going to be partly ameliorated by the fact that Glaxo are buying back shares for cancellation," said UBS Warburg anaylst Mr Paul Major.