A transaction worth almost 20 billion francs (€18.92 billion) involves the Swiss pharmaceutical world, in particular 
the Basel one. The multinational Novartis disengages from Roche.
Novartis has decided to sell its stake in Roche for 19 billion francs. The 53.3 million securities in its possession, a third of those in circulation, will be repurchased by the city's competitor.
The pharmaceutical giant has announced that the transaction will generate an exceptional contribution of 14 billion dollars, compared to an investment costing, between 2001 and 2003, 5 billion. "It is the right time to monetize", commented the CEO of the group Vas Narasimhan.
For its part, Roche specified that the maxi operation was authorized by the board of directors and will be financed through debts. The share package in public hands is destined to rise from 16.6% to 24.9%, in order to 
allow the listing of the security in various price lists (including the Spi).
For the chairman of the board Christoph Franz "The transaction is in the best interests of Roche and our shareholders from both a strategic and economic perspective."
According to commentators, with this operation, Roche protects itself from a possible strategic influence of the competitor in the long term. But the hypothetical advantages also concern the families that control the latter: Hoffmann and Oeri are in fact strengthened within the group, bringing their shareholding from 51% to 67%.
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